Volcanos in Colombia

Colombia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which stretches for about 40,000 km around the Pacific Ocean. Here the tectonic plate of the Pacific collides with several surrounding continental plates and seismic tremors occur again and again. Most of the world's volcanic eruptions, which are also the most severe, occur in this zone.

Ruiz volcano eruption

The Ruiz volcano, which has erupted previously, remains active. Its summit lies at an altitude of 5,279 meters. Escaping lava, ash and gases have a massive impact on the surrounding areas and air traffic. Previously, ash clouds rose to an altitude of 6,700 meters. However, the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Washington currently assumes a decrease in volcanic activity.

Significant volcanic eruptions in Colombia in the last 500 years

The following list shows all volcanic eruptions of the last 500 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 eruption 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 meters up to 1 kilometer high. From VEI 8, a volcano is considered a super volcano. Here, more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of tephra are thrown to altitudes of more than 25 kilometers.

The highest explosivity index in Colombia reached in the review period was VEI 4 in 1899. The volcano Dona Juana 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.

► Interactive map

All volcanos in Colombia

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.