Cerro Machín Volcano
The Cerro Machín Volcano is a stratovolcano located on the eastern flank of the Central Cordillera of Colombia, 17 km west of the city of Ibagué (Tolima). At least six eruptive events have been recorded in the last 5,000 years, the most recent of which took place approximately 900 years ago, depositing ash layers of several tens of centimeters through eruptive columns (of tens of kilometres).
The increase in its seismic activity since the year 2000, its high explosive potential and the great extension of its deposits, make Cerro Machín a volcano not only interesting to study but also of great impact for Colombia.
The Cerro Machín volcano is often ignored as a minor building in the Cerro Bravo-Cerro Machín Volcanic Belt, but considering its high explosive potential, its dacitic composition and the magnitude of its past eruptions, it can be said that this is one of the volcanoes assets with the greatest threat in Colombia (Córtes, 2001).
Currently, some of the manifestations of the volcanic activity of the volcano are: the presence of fumaroles, permanent microseismicity, the hydrothermal system in the vicinity of the crater and the abundant presence of Radon gas in the sector. According to studies related to the geological history of Machín, a future pyroclastic eruptive episode would be deposited mainly in an area of 10 square kilometers around the volcanic edifice.
Fumaroles at the Cerro Machín Volcano