Potential hazards of continued dome growth on Colombia's Nevado del Huila

Earlier today, Dr. Boris Behncke posted a link to some fascinating images of the dome growing at the summit of Nevado del Huila (see below) in Colombia. The volcano started erupting again in 2007 after what is thought to be almost 500 years of quiet. The eruptions since 2007 have been relatively passive - VEI 2-3 explosions and dome growth. However, in 2008, the volcano produced a 50,000 feet ash plume that lead to "one of the world's largest" lahars that did cause some fatalities (but nothing compared to the 1985 lahars from Nevado del Ruiz that killed over 20,000, a testament to the improvements that INGEOMINAS has made in volcano monitoring). Huila, in fact, produced its deadliest volcanically-related event when it wasn't erupting - in 1994, an avalanche and lahar from the volcano swept down the Rio Paez valley to the south, killing hundreds and leaving over 20,000 people homeless. This event was not triggered by an eruption but rather a M6.4 earthquake causing the loosely-consolidated volcanic debris to slide down the volcano, likely a common event in volcanic terrains.