Armero

Armero is the name of a city in Colombia, which was almost completely wiped out on 13 November 1985 by a mudslide. About 25,000 people were in this disaster death, some estimates even from 31,000 victims from.

The Ruins of Armero lie northwest of the capital Bogota on the highway from Bogota to Manizales. Armero was an important trading city before its destruction and was based on the Spanish colonial architecture " ciudad blanca " ( white city) called. Today, only a gas station and the remains of some buildings recall that has been lying here once a bustling city.

On 13 November 1985 shook 70 km west of the town an eruption of snow - and glacier-covered summit of Nevado del Ruiz volcano. The flowing lava brought the 25 -square-kilometer ice cap the summit region to melt. Hot lava, red-hot ashes, melt water and mud pushed their brakes at a speed of 40 to 60 km / h in the valley of Lagunilla their way to the town of Armero. The hot mudflow took on their way gravel and sand of the river bed with, so that a tidal wave ( " lahar " ) is of great density and a gigantic extent of 40 meters thickness spilled over the city and they almost two and a half hours after the outbreak among themselves buried. The best-known victims of the eruption was the girl Omayra Sánchez.