Armero

Armero
Coordinates: 4 ° 58 ′ N , 74 ° 54 ′ W Armero on the map of Colombia	Armero
	Armero
	Location of the municipality of Armero on the map of Tolima
Basic data
Country	Colombia
Department	Tolima
City foundation	1895
Residents	11,490 (2019)
	City insignia
Detailed data
surface	2385 km 2
Population density	5 people / km 2
height	331 m
Time zone	UTC -5
City Presidency	Carlos Alfonso Escobar Peña (2016-2019)
Website	www.armeroguayabal-tolima.gov.co
	Tragedy of Armero

Armero is a municipality (municipio) in Departamento del Tolima in Colombia . The former capital Armero was almost completely wiped out on November 13, 1985 by a mudslide. Around 25,000 people were killed in this disaster, some estimates even assume 31,000 victims.

The main town of the municipality (cabecera municipal) was the nearby Guayabal, which is now called Armero Guayabal . The municipality (municipio) is still called Armero.

geography

Armero is located in the northeast of Tolima in the province of Norte at an altitude of 500 meters about 95 km from Ibagué and has an average annual temperature of 28 ° C. The municipality borders Honda and Mariquita to the north, Guaduas , Chaguaní and San Juan de Rioseco in the Cundinamarca department to the east, Ambalema and Lérida to the south, and Líbano , Villahermosa and Falan to the west .

The ruins of Armero are located northwest of the capital Bogotá on the expressway from Bogotá to Manizales . Armero was an important trading town before its destruction and was called Ciudad Blanca (white city) because of the Spanish colonial architecture . Today only a petrol station and the remains of some buildings remind us that a vibrant city once stood here.

population

The municipality of Armero today has 11,490 inhabitants, of which 8,181 live in Armero Guayabal (as of 2019).

The tragedy of Armero

On November 13, 1985, an eruption shook the snow- and glacier-covered summit of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano 70 km west of the city . The escaping lava melted the 25 square kilometer ice cap of the summit region. Hot lava, glowing ash, meltwater and mud made their way unchecked at speeds of 40 to 60 km / h in the river valley of the Río Lagunilla to the city of Armero . The hot mudslide took rubble and sand from the river bed with it on its way, so that a tidal wave (" lahar ") of great density and a gigantic extent of 40 meters thick poured over the city and buried it almost two and a half hours after the eruption . The most famous victim of the outbreak was the girl Omayra Sánchez .

economy

The main industry in Armero today is agriculture. In particular, rice , cotton , sorghum and maize are grown.

Web links

Commons : Armero Guayabal - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Commons : Tragedy of Armero - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Alcaldía de Armero - Tolima. Alcaldía del Municipio de Armero - Tolima, accessed on April 23, 2019 (Spanish, website of the municipality).
Eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz (English)
Armero - Colombia's ghost town and modern Pompeii 25 years after the volcanic eruption (travelogue, German)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Nuestro municipio. Alcaldía del Municipio de Armero - Tolima, accessed April 23, 2019 (Spanish, information on the municipality).
↑ ESTIMACIONES DE POBLACIÓN 1985 - 2005 Y PROYECCIONES DE POBLACIÓN 2005 - 2020 TOTAL DEPARTAMENTAL POR ÁREA. (Excel; 1.72 MB) DANE, May 11, 2011, accessed on April 23, 2019 (Spanish, extrapolation of the population of Colombia).

[municipio-1] Nuestro municipio. Alcaldía del Municipio de Armero - Tolima, accessed April 23, 2019 (Spanish, information on the municipality).

[2] ESTIMACIONES DE POBLACIÓN 1985 - 2005 Y PROYECCIONES DE POBLACIÓN 2005 - 2020 TOTAL DEPARTAMENTAL POR ÁREA. (Excel; 1.72 MB) DANE, May 11, 2011, accessed on April 23, 2019 (Spanish, extrapolation of the population of Colombia).