Guest Thinkers — September 1, 2010

Nevado del Huila

Huila

I’ve been following these rumblings for the last few months, but it looks like Colombia’s Nevado del Huila is ramping into a new cycle of eruptions. Huila lives in the shadow of its more famous brethren Nevado del Ruiz and Galeras, both of which have had recent and tragic eruptions. Huila is not believed to have been active since the 1500s, but little research has been done on Huila (or any Colombian volcano beyond the aforementioned duo), so it might have had some fits and spasms in the last 500 years.

Reports from INGEOMINAS, the Colombian Geological Survey, say that Huila has been erupting ash intermittently for the last few months, although confirmation of the VEI of the eruption is difficult thanks to the volcano being clouded over. However, Huila is erupting enough to prompt the evacuation of over 13,000 people near the volcano. I’ll update when I find any more information on these eruptions.

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