Galeras (Urcunina among the 16th-century native people) is an Andean stratovolcano in the Colombian department of Nariño, near the departmental capital Pasto. Its peak rises above sea level. It has erupted many times since the Spanish conquest. Its first historical eruption was recorded on December 7, 1580. A 1993 eruption killed nine people, including six scientists who had gone down into the volcano's crater to take samples of gases and measure gravity in an attempt to be able to predict future eruptions. It is currently the most active volcano in Colombia.