Colombia’s Mount Machin and the snow-capped volcanoes Galeras, Huila, and Ruiz have been put on yellow alert after elevated activity, reports La Patria.
Authorities recorded small earthquakes in the Tomila district late last week. The most significant of these was a earthquake that measured 2.3 on the Richter scale and occurred at 5:22 pm on January 1, 2011. The earthquake was felt by residents of Cajamarca, near the Mount Machin.
Geologist Monica Arcila noted that seismic events of this type are frequent in the area and people should not worry.
When Mount Machin was on yellow alert in 2010, Ingeominas, Colombia’s Geological and Mineral institute, said that due to its chemical composition, the magnitude of its eruptions and extensive deposits to feed those eruptions, Machin has a high propensity to affect widespread damage on the Andean nation.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey a yellow alert is an advisory that the “volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level or, after a change from a higher level, volcanic activity has decreased significantly but continues to be closely monitored for possible renewed increase.” There are four levels of alert, green, yellow, orange, and red.