Nevado del Ruiz

The Nevado del Ruiz (Spanish pronunciation: [neβaðo ðel ˈrwis]), also known as La Mesa de Herveo (English: Mesa of Herveo (the nearby town)), or Kumanday in the language of the local pre-Columbian indigenous people, is a volcano located on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about 129 kilometers (80 mi) west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolcano, composed of many layers of lava alternating with hardened volcanic ash and other pyroclastic rocks. Nevado del Ruiz has been active for about two million years, since the early Pleistocene or late Pliocene epoch, with three major eruptive periods. The current volcanic cone formed during the present eruptive period, which began 150 thousand years ago.

The volcano usually generates Plinian eruptions, which produce swift-moving currents of hot gas and rock called pyroclastic flows. These eruptions often cause massive lahars (mud and debris flows), which pose a threat to human life and the environment. The impact of such an eruption is increased as the hot gas and lava melts the mountain's snowcap, adding large quantities of water to the flow. On November 13, 1985, a small eruption produced an enormous lahar that buried and destroyed the town of Armero in Tolima, causing an estimated 25,000 deaths. This event later became known as the Armero tragedy—the deadliest lahar in recorded history. Similar but less deadly incidents occurred in 1595 and 1845, consisting of a small explosive eruption followed by a large lahar.

Nevado

Nevado (1813? – 1821) was a Mucuchies dog that was given to Simón Bolívar by the local people of Mucuchíes, Mérida, in the Venezuelan Andes. It was given as a kind of present shortly after the Battle of Niquitao during his triumphal Admirable Campaign from New Granada (today Colombia) to Caracas in 1813. Bolivar's army was approaching a farm when the independence fighters were stopped in their tracks by a giant, barking guard dog. Weapons drawn, the rebels were about to kill the dog when Bolivar, marveling at its beauty and bravery, ordered them to back down. Nevado always ran beside Bolívar’s horse, no matter if he traveled through cities or battlefields. Nevado died in the Battle of Carabobo on June 24, 1821. When Bolívar received news that Nevado was badly injured, he rushed to the dog, but he came too late.

Several monuments to Nevado stand at the entrance of Mucuchíes town.

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