VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS are awesome manifestations of heat flowing as a result of mantle hot spots (e.g., Hawaii and Iceland) or explosive eruptions in subduction zones (e.g., the Pacific Rim). LESSON: THE KNOWLEDGE AND TIMING OF ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL. The people who know: 1) what hazards to expect (e.g., vertical ash plume, lateral blast, lava flow, lahar), 2) where and when they will happen, and 3) what they should (and should not) do to prepare for them will survive. The people who have timely, realistic, advance information that facilitates reduction of vulnerabilities, and hence the risks associated with the vertical ash plume, pyroclastic flows, tephra, lava flows, and lahars will survive. The people who have timely, accurate, advance information that facilitates evacuation to get our of harm’s way of pyroclastic flows, lava flows, and lahars will survive. The International Community provides millions to billions of dollars in relief to help “pick up the pieces, ” but this strategy is not enough by itself to ensure earthquake disaster resilience. THE CHALLENGE: CREATE, ADJUST, AND REALIGN PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND PEOPLE UNTIL YOU HAVE CREATED THE KINDS OF TURNING POINTS NEEDED FOR MOVING TOWARDS VOLCANO DISASTER RESILIENCE. Presentation courtesy of Dr. Walter Hays, Global Alliance For Disaster Reduction

1. VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
LEARNING FROM GLOBAL
DISASTER LABORATORIES

2. GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF 1,500
ACTIVE VOLCANOES

3. VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
are awesome manifestations
of heat flowing as a result of
mantle hot spots (e.g., Hawaii
and Iceland) or explosive
eruptions in subduction
zones (e.g., the Pacific Rim).

4. ACTIVE VOLCANOES

5. VOLCANO HAZARDS
(AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
• VERTICAL PLUME
• TEPHRA AND ASH
• LATERAL BLAST
• PYROCLASTIC FLOWS

6. VOLCANO HAZARDS
(AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
• LAVA FLOWS
• LAHARS (aka volcanic
landslides)
• EARTHQUAKES (related to the
internal movement of lava)
• “VOLCANIC WINTER”

7. COMMUNITYDATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•HAZARD MAPS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
RISK ASSESSMENT
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
VOLCANO DISASTER
RESILIENCE
•PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
POLICY OPTIONS

8. LATERAL BLAST
VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
FLYING DEBRIS
VOLCANIC ASH
LAVA FLOWS
LAHARS
TOXIC GASES
CAUSES
OF RISK
DISASTER
LABORATORIES

9. WE CONTINUE TO OPERATE WITH
A FLAWED PREMISE:
KNOWLEDGE FROM DISASTERS
RELATED TO EXPLOSIVE VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY
NATION WITH PEOPLE AND ASSETS AT
RISK ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT
POLICIES TO BECOME DISASTER
RESILIENT

10. FACT: IT USUALLY TAKES
MULTIPLE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
BEFORE A STRICKEN NATION
WILL ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT
POLICIES THAT MOVE IT
TOWARDS DISASTER RESILIENCE

11. FACT (continued)
• BUT, THE INTERVAL OF TIME
BETWEEN EXPLOSIVE VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS CAN BE AS LONG AS 500
OR MORE YEARS.

12. FACT:
MOST UNAFFECTED NATIONS DON’T
EVEN TRY TO LEARN ANYTHING NEW
FROM ANOTHER NATION’S
VOLCANIC DISASTERS AND DON’T
CONSIDER THEM TO BE A BASIS FOR
CHANGING EXISTING POLICIES

13. ELEVEN OF THE WORLD’S
NOST DANGEROUS
VOLCANOES
THE NEXT ERUPTION OF THESE 11
ACTIVE VOLCANOES IS LIKELY TO BE
DEVASTATING LOCALLY, REGIONALLY,
AND GLOBALLY

14. WHAT MAKES THESE 11
VOLCANOES DANGEROUS
• Eyjafjallajökull
and Katla
(ICELAND)
• Chaiten
• Krakatau
• Merapi
• Vesuvius
• Pinatubo
• Mount Rainier
• Nevada del Ruiz
• Popocatepl
• Nyirangongo
(CONGO)

15. THEIR LOCATION NEAR CITIES AND
INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE ROUTES
An eruption of any one of these
eleven volcanoes is certain to be
devastating to people, their
property, their health, the
economy, and, sometimes, the
regional air space.

16. Eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull
Volcano in Southern Iceland
A Threat to North American-
European Air Traffic
MARCH 20, 2010

17. The Eyjafjallajökull and Katla
Volcanoes: Southern Iceland

18. The Eyjafjallajökull (AYA-feeyapla-
yurkul) volcano in Southern Iceland,
part of the volcanic process that
originally formed Iceland, erupted a
few minutes before midnight on
Saturday, March 20th

19. EUROPEAN AIR TRAFFIC
DISRUPTED: APRIL 15, 2010

20. An eruption of the Katla
volcano, located under the
massive Myrdalsjokull icecap,
could cause disastrous local
flooding, explosive blasts, and
eruption clouds that would
disrupt air traffic between
Europe and the USA.

21. VOLCANO CHAITEN ERUPTS:
CHILE: MAY 3, 2008

22. CHAITEN ERUPTED AFTER 8,000-
10,000 YEAR DORMANCY
•THE 1,200 M (3,550 FT) VOLCANO
SENT ASH HIGH INTO THE SKY.
• “VOLCANIC EARTHQUAKES
WERE TRIGGERED IN THE AREA.
•1,500 RESIDENTS EVACUATED,
MOSTLY BY BOAT

23. The Historic 1883 Krakatoa
Eruption!
Anak Krakatoa—Son of Krakatoa

24. KRAKATAU
• 26-27 August, 1883; The big one!
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Krakatau.html

25. MOUNT MERAPI:
INDONESIA

26. INDONESIA’S MOUNT MERAPI
ERUPTED ON MAY & JUNE, 2006
• Mount Merapi
emitted lava,
debris, and a
pyroclastic flow
on May 15, but
this one was
not devastating.

27. EXPLOSIVENESS OF JUNE 8
ERUPTION SENT 15,000 FLEEING

28. MOUNT VESUVIUS: ITALY; A
THREAT TO NAPLES

29. MOUNT FUJI: JAPAN; A THREAT
TO TOKYO

30. MT. PINATUBO: THE
PHILIPPINES; JUNE 15, 1991

31. Pinatubo was the second largest
volcanic eruption of the 20th
century and the largest to impact
a densely populated area.

32. MOUNT RAINIER: THREAT TO
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON (USA)

33. MOUNT RAINIER: LAHAR
SIMULATION

34. MOUNT RAINIER: LAHAR
SIMULATION

35. MOUNT RAINIER: LAHAR
SIMULATION

36. NEVADA DEL RUIZ:
COLOMBIA; A 1988 DISASTER

37. The lahar generated by the
eruption of Nevada del Ruiz
buried 25,000 people in the
city of Armero as they slept.

38. POPOCATEPL: MEXICO; A
THREAT TO MEXICO CITY

39. “POPO” AND MEXICO CITY

40. RUMBLINGS OF ERUPTION OF
“POPO” ON JULY 4, 2013

41. Africa's most active
volcano.

42. NYIRANGONGO: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO; A THREAT TO GOMA

43. ERUPTION OF NYIRANGONGO:
JANUARY 2, 2010

44. WARNING:
The other 1,489 active
volcanoes can also
have dangerous
eruptions anytime.

45. ERUPTION OF PUYEHUE IN
CHILE: FEB, 2012

46. ERUPTION OF CHAPARRASTIQUE
IN EL SALVADOR: DEC., 2013

47. RUSSIA’S VOLCANO PLOSKY
TOLBACHIK

48. PLOSKY TOLBACHIK SPEWS
ASH: JAN. 6, 2013

49. LESSON: THE KNOWLEDGE AND TIMING
OF ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL
• The people who know: 1) what
hazards to expect (e.g., vertical ash
plume, lateral blast, lava flow,
lahar), 2) where and when they will
happen, and 3) what they should
(and should not) do to prepare for
them will survive.

50. LESSON: TIMELY, REALISTIC
DISASTER SCENARIOS SAVE LIVES
• The people who have timely,
realistic, advance information that
facilitates reduction of
vulnerabilities, and hence the risks
associated with the vertical ash
plume, pyroclastic flows, tephra,
lava flows, and lahars will survive.

51. LESSON: TIMELY EARLY WARNING
SAVES LIVES
• The people who have timely,
accurate, advance information that
facilitates evacuation to get our of
harm’s way of pyroclastic flows,
lava flows, and lahars will survive.

52. LESSON: EMERGENCY RESPONSE
SAVES LIVES
• The timing of emergency response
operations, especially the
evacuations and the search and
rescue operations (limited to “the
golden 48 hours)” will save lives

53. LESSON: EMERGENCY MEDICAL
PREPAREDNESS SAVES LIVES
• The local community’s capacity for
emergency health care (i,e., coping
with damaged hospitals and medical
facilities, lack of clean drinking
water, food, and medicine, and
high levels of morbidity and
mortality) is vital for survival.

54. LESSON: EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERED
BUILDINGS SAVE LIVES
• Buildings engineered to withstand
the risks from a vertical plume, ash,
pyroclastic flows, and tephra that
cause damage, collapse, and loss of
function, is vital for protecting
occupants from death and injury.

55. LESSON: THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY ALWAYS PROVIDES AID
• The International Community
provides millions to billions of
dollars in relief to help “pick up the
pieces, ” but this strategy is not
enough by itself to ensure
earthquake disaster resilience.

56. YOUR
COMMUNITY
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•MONITORING
•HAZARD MAPS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
BOOKS OF
KNOWLEDGE
•PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•EM RESPONSE
•RECOSTRUCTION AND
RECOVERY
VOLCANO DISASTER
RESILIENCE

57. PILLARS OF VOLCANO DISASTER
RESILIENCE
Preparedness
Adoption and Implementation of a Realistic
Building Code
Realistic Volcanic Eruption Disaster Scenarios
Timely Emergency Response (including
Evacuations, S and R, and Medical Services)
Cost-Effective Reconstruction & Recovery

58. THE CHALLENGE:
POLICY CHANGES: CREATE, ADJUST, AND
REALIGN PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND
PEOPLE UNTIL YOU HAVE CREATED THE
KINDS OF TURNING POINTS NEEDED FOR
MOVING TOWARDS VOLCANO DISASTER
RESILIENCE

59. AN UNDER-UTILIZED GLOBAL
STRATEGY
To Create Turning Points for
Volcano Disaster Resilience
 USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING
THE PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER
AND ACCELERATE POLICY CHANGES

60. MOVING TOWARDS THE MUST-
HAPPEN GLOBAL STRATEGY
To Achieve Volcano Disaster
Resilience
INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND
TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS WITH POLITICAL
SOLUTIONS FOR REALISTIC POLICIES ON
PREPAREDNESS, PROTECTION, DISASTER
SCENARIOS, EMERGENCY RESPONSE,
RECONSTRUCTION, AND RECOVERY