Colombian authorities raise alert level to ‘Orange’ on Thursday for the Nariño department’s Galeras volcano, which experts expect to erupt within days.
The Colombian Institute of Mining and Geology declared in a statement on Thursday that the volcano’s activity has intensified, causing the security alert level in the region to be raised to “Orange Level 2”, signifying “probable eruption within days or weeks.”
The institute stated that the Galeras volcano continues to show unpredictable periods of decreased seismicity, followed by “recurrent episodes of intense activity while maintaining low energy levels.”
Following the orange alert declaration, local and scientific authorities have insisted that some 8,000 residents of catchment areas near the volcano evacuate their homes and move to pre-prepared shelters, reported news station Radio Santa Fe.
The Galeras volcano, located about 700 kilometers southwest of Bogota at an altitude of 4,276 meters, reactivated in 2004 and on average generates about nineteen earthquakes each year.