PASTO, Colombia - Authorities on Friday lowered the threat level for a volcano in southwestern Colombia, a day after an eruption covered a nearby city in ash and forced the evacuation of thousands of people.
The 14,110-foot Galeras volcano appeared to be settling down, but the risk of further eruptions remained, said Julian Villaruel of Colombia's Volcanology Institute.
Several thousand families living in the volcano's shadow streamed out of the region after the eruption at dawn Thursday. The families had defied an earlier evacuation order. Officials were providing temporary shelter at a nearby tent camp and deployed police to abandoned villages to prevent looting.
