The mountain is a popular climbing destination, and at least 250 people were initially trapped on the slopes. At least 30 were killed; most made their way down by Saturday night, but the injured, unable to descend the 10,062-foot mountain on their own, stayed in mountain lodges. The keys to resilience from volcanic disasters: 1) know the eruptive history of your region’s volcanoes, 2) be prepared 3) have a warning system 4) evacuate 5) learn from the experience and start over

1. MOUNT ONTAKE: SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

2. MOUNT ONTAKE
ERUPTS AFTER 35 YEARS
OF DORMANCY
THE ERUPTION OCCURRED A
LITTLE BEFORE NOON ON
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

3. PHYSICAL IMPACTS
• With a sound likened to thunder,
the 10,065 foot (3,320 m) high
volcano spewed large white
plumes of gas and ash high into
the sky and blanketed the
surrounding area with ash.

4. LOCAL IMPACTS
The mountain is a popular climbing
destination, and at least 250 people were
initially trapped on the slopes.
At least 30 were killed; most made their
way down by Saturday night, but the
injured, unable to descend the 10,062-
foot mountain on their own, stayed in
mountain lodges,

5. THIS STORY IS UNFINISHED
• On Sunday, a large plume of ash
continued to rise from the ash-covered
summit of Mount Ontake.
• A convoy of red fire trucks, sirens
blaring, rescue workers on foot, and
helicopters headed into the restricted
zone around the mountain for search
and rescue missions.

6. BACKGROUND

7. Natural Phenomena That Cause
Disasters
Planet Earth’s heat
flow causes
movement of
lithospheric
plates, which
causes sub-duction,
which
causes VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS

8. ELEMENTS OF VOLCANIC
HAZARDS AND RISK

9. ELEMENTS OF RISK
HAZARDS
EXPOSURE
RISK
VULNERABILITY LOCATION

10. VOLCANOES
PART OF THE PACIFIC “RING OF FIRE,”
JAPAN HAS ACTIVE VOLCANOES AS A
RESULT OF COMPLEX SUBDUCTION OF
THE PACIFIC PLATE BENEATH THE
EURASIAN PLATE

11. SOME OF THE 1,500 ACTIVE
VOLCANOES ARE IN CHILE

12. LATERAL BLAST
VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
FLYING DEBRIS
VOLCANIC ASH PLUME
LAVA FLOWS
LAHARS
TOXIC GASES
CAUSES
OF RISK
CASE HISTORIES

13. VOLCANO HAZARDS
CAN HAVE FAR REACHING IMPACTS
• VERTICAL PLUME (can affect
jet aircraft)
• ASH AND TEPHRA
• LATERAL BLAST
• PYROCLASTIC CLOUDS,
BURSTS, AND FLOWS

14. VOLCANO HAZARDS
CAN HAVE FAR REACHING IMPACTS
• LAVA FLOWS
• LAHARS (can bury villages)
• EARTHQUAKES (related to
movement of lava)
• “VOLCANIC WINTER” (causing
famine and mass extinctions)

15. A DISASTER is ---
--- the set of failures that overwhelm the
capability of a community to respond
without external help when three
continuums: 1) people, 2) community
(i.e., a set of habitats, livelihoods, and
social constructs), and 3) complex
events (e.g., a volcanic eruption, …)
intersect at a point in space and time.

16. THE REASONS ARE . . .
• The community is UN-PREPARED
for what will likely
happen, not to mention the
low-probability of occurrence—
high-probability of adverse
consequences event.

17. THE REASONS ARE . . .
• The community is UN-PREPARED
for what will likely
happen from a “low-probability
of occurrence—high-probability
of adverse consequences”
event.

18. THE REASONS ARE . . .
• The community has NO DISASTER
PLANNING SCENARIO or
WARNING SYSTEM in place as a
strategic framework for early threat
identification and coordinated
local, national, regional, and
international countermeasures.

19. THE REASONS ARE . . .
• The community LACKS THE
CAPACITY TO RESPOND in a
timely and effective manner to
the full spectrum of expected
and unexpected emergency
situations.

20. THE REASONS ARE . . .
• The community is INEFFICIENT
during recovery and
reconstruction because it HAS
NOT LEARNED from either the
current experience or the
cumulative prior experiences.

21. THE ALTERNATIVE TO A
VOLCANO DISASTER IS
VOLCANO DISASTER
RESILIENCE

22. The keys to resilience:
1) know the eruptive history of your
region’s volcanoes,
2) be prepared
3) have a warning system 4)
evacuate
5) learn from the experience and
start over

23. JAPAN’S
COMMUNITIES
VOLCANO RISK
•VOLCANO HAZARDS
•PEOPLE & BLDGS.
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
GOAL: VOLCANO
DISASTER RESILIENCE
POLICY OPTIONS
• PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•EARLY WARNING
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION

24. TECHNOLOGIES FOR
MONITORING, FORECASTING,
AND WARNING ARE VITAL FOR
SURVIVAL.

25. AIR AND LAND MONITORING
TECHNOLOGIES ARE VITAL
.