At 5 volcanos in Colombia there have been a total of 9 siginificant eruptions over the past 2000 years. Over 24800 people were killed. The worst volcanic eruption in terms of deaths, destroyed houses and financial damages happened on 11/13/1985 at the volcano "Ruiz". Only here 23080 people died.
6 of 10 volcanos in Colombia are considered as still active.
Significant volcanic eruptions in Colombia over the past 2000 years
The following list shows all volcanoes of the last 2000 years with significant damage. The column "VEI" stands for the volcano explosivity index, which represents the strength of the eruption from a geological point of view. This takes into account the height and volume of the rocks ejected. The scale ranges from 0-8, with the severity of the outbreak increasing tenfold with each value. For example, a VEI of 1 means that the volcano throws lava and rock masses of 100,000 to 1 million cubic metres up to 1 kilometre high. From VEI 8 a volcano is considered a super volcano. Here, more than 1000 cubic kilometers of tephra are thrown to altitudes of more than 25 kilometers.
The highest explosivity index in Colombia was reached in the review period at VEI 4 in 1899. The volcano Dona Juana The volcano Klaus threw tephramasses of at least 100 million cubic meters over 10 kilometers high. Volcanoes of this size do not normally erupt more frequently than every 10 years.
Eruption
Volcano
VEI
Deaths
Total damage
11/20/2008
Huila
0
10
04/18/2007
Huila
0
0
01/14/1993
Galeras
2
9
11/13/1985
Ruiz
3
23080
05/26/1949
Purace
2
17
11/13/1899
Dona Juana
4
55
05/25/1885
Purace
3
0
02/19/1845
Ruiz
3
1000
03/12/1595
Ruiz
4
636
All volcanos in Colombia
Volcano
Elevation
Status
Last eruption
Sotara
4580 m
Potentially active
Purace
4600 m
Active
05/26/1949
Nevado del Tolima
5215 m
Active
Nevado del Ruiz
5400 m
Active
Nevado del Huila
5750 m
Solfatara stage
Mesa Nevada deHerveo
5590 m
Solfatara stage
Machin
2750 m
Solfatara stage
Galeras
4482 m
Active
01/14/1993
Dona Juana
4250 m
Active
Azufral de Tuquerres
4070 m
Solfatara stage
These statistics are based on datas from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP), and the Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database of the National Geophysical Data Center (NOAA) / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) doi:10.7289/V5JW8BSH. Several data have been summarized and translated. The photo above is from Pixabay.com (CC0).