About 7,500 people living around the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in central-western Colombia will be evacuated from their homes as a precaution, following an order issued by the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, on Wednesday.

Since March 31, there is a threat of a volcanic eruption in the area.

“We asked (…) to speed up the precautionary evacuation of 2,500 families,” President Petros said via Twitter, adding that the government is closely monitoring the situation at the volcano.

In its latest emergency bulletin released on Wednesday, the Colombian Geological Survey spoke of continued “seismic activity” at the volcano, with “nearly 2,600 recorded earthquakes” of the highest magnitude since Nevado del Ruiz began to be systematically monitored. in 1985.

“Seismicity remains concentrated in the southwestern sector” of the volcano’s structure, at a distance “between 2 and 4 kilometers from the crater,” according to the geological service, which also noted that “a column of gases and/or ash reaches 1,500 meters above from the crater”.

The alert level remains at “orange”. When it turns “red”, it means that a volcanic eruption is imminent and the quickest evacuation of the population on a large scale must be done.

Nevado del Ruiz brings to Colombian memories the “Tragedy of Armero”, the second deadliest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, when some 25,000 people died in November 1985 as flows of mud, water and volcanic ash hit the unprepared community.

And the martyrdom of Omaira Sanchez Garcón, 13, who died in a hole of water, where her legs were trapped, after three days of agony in front of the cameras, which had shocked her.

The main danger for the population is always the lahars, flows of mud, ash and other volcanic debris, which causes the melting of the ice on the slopes of the volcano.

Nearly 57,000 people would be threatened in the event of a volcanic eruption, including 14,000 in urban areas, according to Colombian authorities. Fourteen communities are most at risk.

Nevado del Ruiz, which reaches an altitude of 5,321 meters, has been in “constant eruptive activity during the last ten years”, with “minor events”, “mainly (volcanic) ash emissions”, according to the geological service.

On the central cordigera (mountain range) and the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Nevado del Ruiz is among Colombia’s 25 active volcanoes.