Colombia’s Killer Volcano Rumbling

Nevado del Ruiz, this nation’s killer volcano, rumbled loudly and spat a high column of ash and smoke Sunday, triggering fears of a possible new eruption, scientists said.

Early in the morning a strong tremor was registered inside the fuming volcano, whose eruption last November killed an estimated 23,000 people and buried the town of Armero under mud.

A grayish column of ash and smoke shot nearly 4,000 feet into the air from the mouth of the Arenas crater, a member of the scientific team monitoring the volcano said.

Renewed seismic activity led the government on June 12 to require everyone within a six-mile radius of the volcano to leave. Officials in the area said that only a limited number of the 1,700 or so people living in the risk area have actually abandoned their homes.