Colombia. Nevado del Ruiz Volcano. An explosion can happen at any moment and they don’t want to leave

The Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia may erupt soon. On Friday, March 31, the Geological Survey raised its eruption warning level from yellow to orange, meaning an eruption is likely within days or weeks. Local authorities are trying to evacuate as many people as possible from the area around the volcano, but not all residents want to leave their belongings behind.

About 2,500 families living around Nevado del Ruiz are being evacuated, Reuters reported. Early evacuation is necessary because, in the event of an eruption, outdated infrastructure will make it difficult to communicate with residents near the volcano. However, many residents refuse to leave.

“It didn’t scare me because it had exploded before.” I was here then,” a resident told Reuters. – Of course it made noise, because it was a big crater, so when the rocks were flying, it was loud. (…) When the last explosion rock fell on the roof of our house.

Other residents admit they fear the explosion but have no choice but to accept their fate. “If you leave your belongings, crops and animals here, nothing will be left when you come back,” explained a local farmer.

Luis Fernando Velasco, an adviser to the Colombian president, said villagers were afraid to participate in early evacuations because their possessions could be stolen. Officials want to help residents evacuate livestock from the warning zone, and some farmers are allowed to return to their farms daily.

If the volcano erupts, its effects will be felt in the area where nearly 60,000 people live. Officials fear that the scale of the disaster will be similar to that of 1985. Pyroclastic material from the volcano then melted the mountain’s ice, creating lahars – avalanches of soil, rock and volcanic ash.

The element completely submerged the city of Armero and the surrounding settlements – mud waves crashed into houses in the middle of the night, burying sleeping people under the rubble. It is estimated that more than 25,000 people died due to this outbreak. It was the worst natural disaster in Colombian history and the fourth deadliest volcanic eruption in human history.