The Colombian government said on Tuesday it will evacuate 9 000 people living near a volcano in south-west Colombia 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 $43 (R279) 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 two, 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-one warning, which means an eruption is imminent or active.
Colombia’s Minister of Social Affairs Diego Palacios on Sunday provided additional funds to hospitals in the area in the event of an eruption.
Galeras, located 20km from the city of Pasto near the Ecuador border, last erupted in November. The volcano hurled rocks for a distance of 3km 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. — Sapa-AP