ABSTRACTThe Armero Tragedy in Tolima, Colombia in 1985, is the worst natural disaster to ever take place in Colombia (Flórez). The ripple effect of this catastrophe includes hope; the hope that comes from now knowing how to prepare vulnerable populations for efficient and effective evacuation. The Armero Tragedy was a result of the volcanic eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz stratovolcano causing three deathly lahars to flow down into the cities below. The purpose of this story map is to describe the seminal cause of the eruptions, the trajectory of this volcanic odyssey, to discover the details of destruction that took place in this once vibrant Colombian pueblo, as well as highlighting the response to this tragedy.The natural disaster that gave the name to the Armero Tragedy was the deadliest lahar ever recorded (UNDRR. - United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction). The ice-capped stratovolcano, Nevado del Ruiz is located in Tolima, Colombia, 140km northwest of the capital Bogotá (Figure 1). On November 13th, 1985, the volcano erupted and created lahars that ran down to the town of Armero, 48km away from Nevado del Ruiz, killing over 23,000 people.

Armero Tragedy - Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia, 1985

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Continue storytelling with ArcGIS StoryMaps and keep your content. Request that Esri migrate your account to ArcGIS Online by May 31, 2025, and complete migration by June 30, 2025.

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ArcGIS <link>StoryMaps</link> is the professional version of StoryMaps and is available as part of <link2>ArcGIS Online</link2>. Both products share similar storytelling capabilities, so if you are familiar with StoryMaps, you'll feel right at home with ArcGIS StoryMaps. Visit the <link3>retirement page</link3> for a detailed comparison between StoryMaps and ArcGIS StoryMaps.

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