Volcanoes

Citation

(2001), "Volcanoes", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2001.07310dag.005

Volcanoes

Volcanoes

Sciencewww.sciencemag.org

The January 12 issue of Science (Vol. 291 No. 5502), available online at the address above, contains an analysis of volcano deaths by Tom Simkin, Lee Siebert, and Russell Blong. Entitled "Volcano fatalities – lessons from the historical record," it examines more than 400 fatal volcanic eruptions. The authors describe their findings as "worrisome"; they found a marked increase in fatal eruptions in the twentieth century, which they attribute to global population increase, not greater eruption frequency, which has remained roughly constant. "Of the many agents of volcanic death," they further report, "tephra (ashfall and projectiles) is more common (and more easily mitigated) than more widely feared agents such as pyroclastic flows, tsunamis, and mudflows.

During the sometimes long course of an eruption, the most dangerous time is the first 24 hours, but the next most dangerous times are months or years after the start, when people are tired of the eruption and guards are lowered."