Volcano claims lives in South America
Columbia's Nevado del Huila regionCourtesy USGS/R.L. SchusterThe eruption of a volcano in southern Columbia has claimed the lives of at least 10 people and officials fear the death toll will rise.
Nevado del Huila is the highest volcano in Columbia, towering at 17,602 feet. Early last year It came to life after being dormant for more than 500 years.
The volcano is located in a remote area of southeastern Columbia about 150 miles south of Bogota. A number of isolated villages surround the mountain, and thousands were evacuated earlier this week for fear of an impending eruption.
When the eruption finally happened yesterday, it triggered two large landslides along the Paez River. Seven people are still listed as missing and the region remains on high-alert. But the locals have good reason to be nervous. In 1994 several hundred people were killed by landslides from Nevado del Huila induced earthquakes. And nine years before that a nearby volcano named Nevado del Ruiz erupted and killed more than 25,000 people.
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Wow! I wonder if how much advance notice they got before the volano errupted.
Natural disasters can be very scary and deadly. Thankfully the villages were evacuated prior to the erruption.
I agree with you Marilyn. I don't even think we should even have natural disaster because it will kill lots of peoples also that at least its not in the United States so we don't have to worry about it.
Huh!? How do we avoid having natural disasters? And just because the volcano didn't erupt in the USA doesn't mean it's unimportant. I'm glad there was time to evacuate the villages and I'm sorry they weren't able to save everyone.
Theres no villages and volcanos in U.S. There is some in hawii. We have hurricanes,tornados and earthquakes.
Hawaii is part of the US. There are also villages and volcanoes in Alaska. And there are volcanoes in the lower 48; they just aren't super active.
There are about 40 US volcanoes outside of Hawaii and Alaska that are considered active. (In Alaska, the number is more like 60.) Remember Mt. St. Helen's? Mount Rainier hasn't erupted recently, but a LOT of people live in its shadow and it has the potential to be incredibly disruptive.)
WOW! Natural diasters can happen whenever so I wouldn't want to live by a volcano. It don't matter how cool it looks!
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