Disaster Calendar 2012 – April 9
Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,437 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History
First rainy season of 2012 affects 12,000 people, leaving 10 dead or missing
At least 10 people are dead and more than 12,000 affected by flooding and landslides following this year’s first rainy season, Colombian government said.
- Bogota, Colombia. Flooding and landslides caused by the region’s first rainy season have left at least 10 people dead or missing and affected more than 12,000 so far this year, Colombian authorities said.
- Extreme rain events have deluged the Bogota metropolitan area and about 70 other municipalities across 23 departments (states) since January.
- More than 2,300 homes, schools and public buildings, as well as dozens of roads bridges and other infrastructure were damaged or destroyed.
Significant Events
- Nevado del Ruiz volcano, Colombia. A ‘Red Alert’ has been issued for the central Colombia Nevado del Ruiz volcano because the authorities believe an eruption is imminent.
- The highest alert was issued “for the rivers that descend from the Nevado del Ruiz volcano because of a change in eruption threat and the heavy rains that have occurred in the area,” said Colombia’s meteorological institute IDEAM on Sunday.
- The alert covers residential areas near a dozen rivers and streams in several departments in Colombia’s Midwest region due to ongoing extreme rain events.
- The volcano was placed on ‘Orange Alert’ on March 31 due to increased seismic activity.
- The deadliest eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz occurred in 1985, when lahars killed more than 25,000 people and injured more than 5,000 others, destroying thousands of homes, erasing the town of Armero in Tolima department and causing substantial damage to the town of Chinchiná in Caldas.
Nevado del Ruiz threatens to erupt. The volcano sits on the border of Caldas and Tolima departments about 130 km (80 mi) west of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. Photo credit: Jhon Jairo Bonilla/El Tiempo
Río Lagunillas, former location of Armero
Within four hours of the beginning of the eruption, lahars had traveled 100 km and left behind a wake of destruction: more than 23,000 people killed, about 5,000 injured, and more than 5,000 homes destroyed along the Chinchiná, Gualí, and Lagunillas rivers. Hardest hit was the town of Armero at the mouth of the Río Lagunillas canyon, which was located in the center of this photograph. Three quarters of its 28,700 inhabitants perished. Source: USGS. Photo: J. Marso, taken in late November 1985
Volcanic hazard map for Nevado del Ruiz. Lahars from 1985 eruption shown in red. Source: Wright, Thomas L. and Pierson, Thomas C. (1992); via Living with volcanoes, USGS.
Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background
- 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
- Mega Disasters
- 2011 Disaster Calendar
- 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun
Fire Earth 