Colombia to evacuate thousands over volcano fear

The Colombian government said today it will evacuate 9,000 people living near a volcano in the south-west amid concerns it is about to erupt.

The 2,300 families living in a high-risk zone near the Galeras volcano will be asked “to stay with friends, family or in other places” far from the danger and will receive €33 a month for expenses, Eduardo Jose Gonzalez, director of the government’s Disaster Attention and Prevention Office, said in a statement.

The Galeras Volcano Observatory last month set its new warning system at Level 2, indicating a “probability of an eruption within days or weeks.” Abnormal seismic activity and high temperatures in the crater have continued since then, but the indicators have not risen to warrant a Level 1 warning, which means an eruption is imminent or active.

Colombia’s Social Affairs Minister Diego Palacios on Sunday provided additional funds to hospitals in the area in the event of an eruption.

Galeras, located 12 miles from the city of Pasto near the Ecuador border, last erupted in November.

The volcano hurled rocks for a distance of two miles and blanketed the ground with ash, but caused no injuries.

The volcano has a long history of activity. In 1993, nine people were killed during an eruption, including five scientists from around the globe who had descended into the crater to sample gases at the very moment it blew.