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The Armero tragedy was the major consequence of the November 13, 1985, eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Tolima, Colombia. After 69 years of dormancy the eruption caught nearby towns unaware, even though the government had received warnings to evacuate the area from multiple volcanological organizations when volcanic activity had been detected in September 1985. As pyroclastic flows erupted from the volcano's crater, they melted the mountain's glaciers, sending four enormous lahars (volcanically induced mudslides, landslides, and debris flows) down its slopes at 60 kilometers (37 mi) per hour. The lahars picked up speed in gullies and coursed into the six major rivers at the base of the volcano; they engulfed the town of Armero, killing more than 20,000 of its almost 29,000 inhabitants. Photographs of the lahars and the impact of the disaster captured attention worldwide and led to controversy over the degree to which the Colombian government was responsible for the disaster. (more...)

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November 13: Feast Day of Saint John Chrysostom (Eastern Orthodox Church)

• 1002 – St. Brice's Day massacre: King Ethelred II (pictured) ordered the massacre of all Danes in England.
• 1927 – The Holland Tunnel, connecting New York City's Manhattan with Jersey City, New Jersey, under the Hudson River, opened.
• 1965 – The steamship SS Yarmouth Castle burned and sunk about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Nassau, Bahamas, killing about 90 people.
• 1970 – The Bhola tropical cyclone hit the densely populated Ganges Delta in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people.
• 1992 – The High Court of Australia ruled in Dietrich v The Queen that although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay when an accused is unrepresented.

More anniversaries: November 12 – November 13 – November 14