Abstract. In November 13, 1985 a small eruption of Nevado del Ruiz volcano, Colombia, triggered mudflows that swept down river valleys and caused damage in the town of Chinchina and the total destruction of the city of Armero, located some 50 km away from the vent. The total death toll: more than 22,000. This event changed the history of volcanology in Colombia and prompted the initiation of its volcano monitoring program. During 1989-1993, eruptions of Galeras volcano caused extreme commotion around the city of Pasto, located within 10 km of the active vent, including economic losses and the death of a group of experts that were studying the volcano in 1993. These events raised concerns about both the hazards associated with cities built close to active volcanoes and safety issues while working in or around a volcanic vent.
The catastrophic results of Ruiz's eruption in 1985 let to the initiation of the volcanological studies in Colombia, the establishment of a nation-wide volcano monitoring program, and most important of all, the start of studies of geological hazards. Today the volcano monitoring program is led by three volcano observatories that are ascribed to INGEOMINAS, the Colombian Geological Survey.
In the past, the joint efforts of the Colombian scientists and foreign agencies, boosted progress in improving the surveillance capabilities over more than 10 potentially hazardous volcanoes. Also, thanks to multiple outreach activities that primarily target educational institutions, stronger links among the scientists, communities, polititians and local authorities have been established. Scientific research in several disciplines is also done to some level, however a slow pace has been imposed to the work of researchers because of many factors including: aging monitoring systems, insufficinet funding, and in particular a five decade-old armed conflict with ensuing political unrest that deviates government's attention from academic and scientific institutions and seriously impedes cooperation between foreign and local scientists. Today, eighteen years after the crisis at Nevado del Ruiz and ten years following the Galeras volcano events, we look at the lessons learned, analyze where we stand now, and make forecasts regarding the continuation of the monitoring program in Colombia.