Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupted in November 1985, melting glacial ice and triggering devastating lahars (volcanic mudflows) that buried the town of Armero, killing over 23,000 people. The disaster became infamous for the photograph of Omayra Sánchez, a young girl trapped in debris, which circulated globally. It remains one of the deadliest volcanic disasters of the twentieth century.

The Armero tragedy profoundly affected Colombian literature and journalism, inspiring poems, novels, and testimonial literature addressing state negligence, media ethics, and collective grief. Colombian poets like María Mercedes Carranza and William Ospina reflected on the disaster in works exploring memory, responsibility, and the vulnerability of marginalized communities, contributing to Latin American literary traditions that use natural catastrophe to critique political and social structures.