Earthquake In Colombia Case Study

On November 13 1985, Colombia would be victim of a horrific catastrophe! Located at approximately 120 Km west of Bogota, the volcano Nevado del Ruiz had erupted in a small scale eruption, although it is clear to confirm that it doesn’t take a large eruption to be considered a vicious threat. This eruption had occurred during the night, and thus had caused many residents of Armero to be caught off guard and would become a tragic consequence. This eruption would lead to a large mudflow which had seeped through Armero at speeds of almost 50 km per hour. This tragic event took the lives of more than 23,000 people and damaged the landscape of the entire town. This would be recorded as the fourth worst volcanic disaster on earth. Although, there

Surprisingly, some government officials have abandoned the report due to it being too frightening and lead to not evacuating people because there was a sense of uncertainty. On November 12, a group of scientist investigated the crater of the volcano, and have suggested no evacuation is needed. Therefore, there is questioning to be made on who is to blame for this tragedy. Although there was an error made from the group of scientist who visited the volcano, there were many events that should have caused a far more thorough investigation on the volcano prior. The government and its officials should have acted rather properly to these “warnings”. Regardless of how big or small the risk factor maybe, the residents of Armero should be informed as soon as possible. In other words, there should’ve been a better approach from the government officials, thus making them the most liable for the

There should have been a higher level of concern towards the possibility of an eruption. The fact that there was all the data needed to recommend an evacuation, but no proper execution towards it, reveals the poor decision making by the government of Colombia and its officials. In addition, there are some lessons that Colombia should incorporate for future eruptions, to minimize such consequences. For one, there should be skilled geologist in a country that contains a volcano with historic eruption activity. If not, there should be some sort of system incorporating equipment to warn possible danger from the volcano. Second, there should be a priority of what is occurring in the country. There had been warfare in Colombia’s capital, and thus caused higher attention from the government away from Armero and its volcanic activity. Therefore, Colombia needs to adapt from the loss of Armero in prevention methods, and its decision making towards natural harm to its