The increasing exposure of cities to the effects of volcanic eruptions: a global survey

Abstract

The most dynamic demographic process of the past 250 years has been the movement of people from rural areas to cities. For most of this period urbanisation has been concentrated in economically more developed parts of the world, but during the last 50 years the focus has shifted to economically less developed regions. Urbanisation, particularly in developing countries, has led to increasing global exposure to a variety of natural hazards, not the least of which are risks posed to large cities by volcanoes. In this paper we monitor these demographic changes and detail the various types of volcanic hazard to which cities are exposed. A major eruption affecting a city in a developing country could cause widespread loss of life and regional disruption. Effective response, however, might minimise casualties in a city within a developed nation affected by a major eruption, but the economic impact could have global consequences. We argue that global hazard exposure is often subtle and involves not only the size of a city and the types of volcanic product that may occur, but also the strategic position of the threatened city within the economy of a country and/or region and the fact that volcano-induced tsunami and other consequences of eruptions, such as climatic change, may affect cities far removed from a given eruption site. Mitigation measures informed by both specifc prediction (surveillance) and general prediction (hazard mapping) are providing the potential to reduce hazard exposure. The paper concludes with a consideration of ongoing research, in particular the emphasis currently being placed on conflating hazard analysis with studies of place, economy, society and culture.     

五大连池老黑山火山的两次喷发活动

老黑山是五大连池火山群中最年轻的火山.通过对老黑山火山锥体结构及其形态分析指出,老黑山火山并非单锥,而是由先、后不同时期形成的两个锥体叠加组成的复合锥,表明它有两次喷发活动.通过对新发掘出的史料的分析,进一步指出,老黑山火山的第一次喷发时间为1720(不是1719年)-1721年,第二次可能为1776年.两次喷发活动的确认为研究老黑山火山喷发历史、喷发过程、喷发危险性评价和灾害预测等提供了新依据.     

The global distribution of human population and recent volcanism

Abstract

This study quantifies the spatial relationship between the global distribution of human population and recent volcanism. Using recently compiled databases of population and Holocene volcanoes, we estimate that almost 9% (455 × 10⁶ people) of the world's 1990 population lived within 100km of an historically active volcano and 12% within 100km of a volcano believed to have been active during the last 10,000 years. The analysis also indicates that average population density generally decreases with distance from these volcanoes (within 200 km). In tropical areas, the elevation and fertile soils associated with volcanic regions can provide incentives for agrarian populations to settle close to potentially active volcanoes. In Southeast Asia and Central America higher population densities lie in closer proximity to volcanoes than in other volcanic regions. In Japan and Chile, population density tends to increase with distance from volcanoes. The current trends of rapid urbanization and sustained population growth in tropical developing countries, combined with agricultural intensification of fertile volcanic terrains could alter the relationship between humans and volcanoes so as to increase both local and global consequences of volcanic eruptions in the future.     

Medical aspects of volcanic disasters: An outline of the hazards and emergency response measures

The health and safety hazards posed by volcanic eruptions are outlined with special reference to experience gained from the eruptions of Mount St. Helens in 1980. The ability of volcanologists to predict the timing and the impact on local communities of an impending eruption are limited, some recent devastating eruptions having occurred without apparent warning. With the expansion of world populations into hazardous volcanic areas there is a growing need to develop appropriate emergency response measures. This paper describes the main preventive public and occupational health measures that are now a necessary part in dealing with volcanic emergencies.     

长白山天池火山的研究现状与展望

较详细地介绍了近年来长白山天池火山喷发历史、火山形成机制、火山系统的探测和火山灾害的研究现状，指出了当前研究中存在的一些主要问题。建议今后应加强火山活动历史研究；探测岩浆作用及其动态变化，限定火山失稳条件；研究岩浆作用和火山触发机制；开展火山作用的试验模拟和火山灾害区划的定量模拟研究；建立火山灾害预警系统，制定火山灾害应急预案，以达到减轻火山灾害的目的。     

中国的海啸灾害

从海啸的物理和发生条件分析了中国海啸的危险性：渤海、黄海和东海发生本地海啸的可能性很小；中国东部沿海受来自太平洋方面海啸的影响也很小；对中国东南沿海有较大影响的海啸发源地主要在南方，它们是菲律宾西侧的大地震、印度尼西亚巽他海峡的火山喷发以及中国南海的大型海底滑坡。虽然中国的海岸受海啸影响的可能性不大，但对于浪高5m的2级海啸而言，受到威胁的沿海地区的GDP占全国近1／4。从成灾的角度来看，小海啸大灾难的情况是有可能的。     

世界不同区域火山爆发与我国华南夏季旱涝的关系

本文将世界火山爆发地点分为6个区域,根据500a来火山活动和我国华南旱涝资料,研究了中国华南阜涝与不同火山区域及不同季节火山爆发的统计关系,发现了不同区域火山爆发对华南旱涝的影响不同。     

五大连池火山危险性分析

针对五大连池火山危险性问题进行了一系列的地球物理反演和分析,通过对现代岩交流心概念和国外活火山实例剖析,采用岩浆固结的Ｓｔｅｆａｎ问题的葩演了岩浆房的固结曲线和固结时间：引入ＳＦＴ理论探讨了五大连池火山岩浆碎屑化机制;利用壳幔结构化Ｒ值的分析方法分析了五大连池火山区地壳稳定性;采用火山区卫星重力异常剖面的分析方法探讨了五大连池火山区地幔物质活动性,结合五大连池火山现代喷发的史料分析,模拟了五连池火     

强火山爆发与我国华北地区夏季旱涝的关系

本文根据我国１４７０～１９９０年旱涝型和旱涝等级指数资料，研究了１５世纪以来世界８个区域强火山爆发与我国华北旱涝的统计关系，发现火山爆发后１～２ａ内华北地区夏季以偏旱为主。     

Research on Methods for Building Volcano Disaster Information System--taking Changbai Mountain as an example

1IntroductionAs a many-volcano-distributed country,China is covered with many volcanoes and lava rocks.A-mong the one-thousand-or-so volcanoes,Changbai Mountain Volcano,Wudalianchi Volcano,Tengchong Volcano and Ashikule Volcano of West Kunlun are the mostlatentcatastrophic erup-tive active volcanoes.In recent years,the activity of the earth' s crust in some volcanic areas isobviously becoming increasing violent.Butfew scholars have monitored and evaluated volcano inChina.So building VDI…     

Volcanic Disaster Mitigation in the Philippines: Experience from Mt. Pinatubo

Considerable progress has been made in volcanic disaster mitigation in the Philippines during the last four decades, since the devastating Hibok-Hibok eruption in 1951 and the establishment of the Commission on Volcanology (COMVOL), the forerunner of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) in 1952. The management of the Pinatubo Volcano eruption crisis of 1991-92 marks the highest point in the development of volcanic disaster mitigation in the country. State-of-the-art volcano monitoring techniques and instruments were applied; the eruption was accurately predicted; hazards zonation maps were prepared and disseminated a month before the violent explosions; an alert and warning system was designed and implemented; and the disaster response machinery was mobilized on time. The unprecedented magnitude and lingering nature of the hazards, however, and their widespread, long-term impacts have sorely tested the capability of the country's volcanic disaster mitigation systems. In particular, the lahar threat has triggered controversies and put decision makers in a dilemma of choosing between adaptive versus confrontational/control approaches. At least three strategies have been articulated and adopted in varying degrees and forms: (1) the establishment of a lahar monitoring-warning-evacuation system to deal with the lahar problem on an emergency basis; (2) relocation of settlements from the hazard zones; and (3) installation of engineering countermeasures to control/divert the lahar flows and protect settlements. A combination of the three appears to be the best, but the most effective and least costly mix remains to be determined.     

Volcanic hazard or economic destitution: hard choices in Banños,Ecuador

In 1999, the entire population of tourism-dependent Baños, Ecuador, some 16,000 people, was evacuated in anticipation of a violent eruption of Mount Tungurahua. Subsequently, many areas in the risk zone experienced heavy ash falls, lahars, and landslides, although no cataclysmic events occurred. Many small rural communities were also evacuated. While these communities became impacted by the hazard, Baños avoided most direct effects. Conditions for all evacuees were grim, and their conditions compounded because Ecuador was simultaneously undergoing profound economic and political crises. Absent livelihood alternatives, community leaders from Baños organized a return to their town even though it remained under an evacuation order. An aggressive campaign brought tourists and more residents back and Baños revived economically; however, this was achieved at the cost of hazard awareness among both groups, tourists and residents, and public safety became compromised.     

Gas bursts from cameroon crater lakes: a new natural hazard

Gas bursts from tropical crater lakes constitute a hitherto unrecognized natural hazard, which claimed 37 lives around Lake Monoun in 1984 and 1,746 lives in 1986 around Lake Nyos in Cameroon, west Africa. Studies of these events indicate that the lethal gas clouds were dominantly CO(2) which exsolved catastrophically from deep waters of the lakes, producing in the case of Lake Nyos a gas cloud of 1.94 times 10(6) tons CO(2) . Carbon-isotope data indicate a magmatic source of the carbon dioxide, but the geochemistry of deep water and gases does not support a sudden injection of volcanic gas from a deep source into the lakes. Rather, it is proposed that the gas bursts were preceded by gradual build-up of dissolved bicarbonate in deep waters, where anoxic conditions in enclosed and stagnant basins led to low pH and pCO(2) close to saturation. Steady input from the Earth's mantle to submerged mofettes or CO(2) -rich soda springs within the lakes is most likely the primary source of carbon dioxide. Lethal effects of the gas bursts are almost entirely due to CO(2) -induced asphyxia. A small percentage of victims awoke from coma one or two days after the event, but most died. Unusual skin lesions on about 5% of victims arose from the comatose state. It is shown that the mass of gas required to account for the lethal effects and observed gas clouds is an order of magnitude less than the potential gas yield from the lakes. In view of the lethal gas bursts from the small Cameroon lakes, the potential hazard of future gas bursts from other much larger density-stratified equatorial lakes must be seriously considered, particularly in Lake Kivu in east Africa, where methane and carbon dioxide gas content is higher by two to four orders of magnitude than that of the Cameroon lakes. A gas burst from Lake Kivu would form a carbon dioxide cloud up to 340 km(3) in volume and expansion of the exsolving gas from deep water to atmospheric pressure would correspond to an energy release equivalent to 8 megatons of explosive.     

Satellite remote sensing as a tool in Lahar disaster management

At least 40,000 deaths have been attributed to historic lahars (volcanic mudflows). The most recent lahar disaster occurred in 1998 at Casita volcano, Nicaragua, claiming over 2,500 lives. Lahars can cover large areas and be highly destructive, and constitute a challenge for disaster management. With infrastructure affected and access frequently impeded, disaster management can benefit from the synoptic coverage provided by satellite imagery. This potential has been recognisedfor other types of natural disasters, but limitations are also known. Dedicated satellite constellations for disaster response and management have been proposed as one solution. Here we investigate the utility of currently available and forthcoming optical and radar sensors as tools in lahar disaster management. Applied to the Casita case, we find that imagery available at the time could not have significantly improved disaster response. However, forthcoming satellites, especially radar, will improve the situation, reducing the benefit of dedicated constellations.     

利用多源数据融合研究长白山天池火山的喷发期次及空间分布

利用ERS－2 SAR，Landsat TM和全色航空照片等图像，结合测年、野外地质考察等资料，在GIS平台上利用多源数据融合、小波变换、神经元网络分类等手段，研究了长白山天池火山的喷发期次及分布，为火山灾害制图及危险性评价提供了重要依据。     

全球不同区域火山爆发与中国夏季旱涝的关系

根据近500年来火山活动和中国旱涝资料,研究了中国旱涝型和各主要地区旱涝指数与不同火山区和不同季节火山爆发的统计关系,探讨了1991年江淮洪涝与该年6月火山爆发的可能联系。发现不同区域火山爆发对中国不同地区的旱涝影响不同,有的甚至截然相反。由统计检验表明,分区研究比不分区研究其信度明显提高。     

火山灾害及其监测预防

本文阐明火山灾害是一种重大自然灾害,给人民生命财产造成严重损失。文中指出当前火山活动进入新的活跃期,提出我国火山灾害的潜在危险。我国许多休眠火山区,正在成为新的经济开发区和旅游疗养、开发地热和建材资源的新兴城镇,人口迅速增加,经济蓬勃发展。但还没有采取有效的火山监测研究和防灾措施。作者建议,应把火山监测研究纳入政府防灾日程,制定规划,拨出专款,把防御火山灾害同国土开发,经济建设结合起来。     

河流泥沙灾害损失评估

河流泥沙灾害有河道，水库淤积、土地沙化、湖泊、城市或建筑物淤积及工程设施被冲刷破坏等表现形式。中国是河流泥沙灾害最严重的国家，每年河流泥沙造成的损失在100亿元量级，其中因河道泥沙淤积造成的损失约20亿元，土地沙化损失在10亿元左右，河流泥沙造成的其它灾害也很严重。     

Social capital's role in recovery: evidence from communities affected by the 2010 Pakistan floods

Pakistan suffered large‐scale flooding in summer 2010 that caused damage amounting to approximately USD 43 billion, claimed the lives of at least 1,700 people, and negatively affected some 20 million others. Observers have debated the degree to which social capital plays a role in recovery after a catastrophe of this magnitude. Using new survey data on 450 residents impacted by the disaster, this study found that, controlling for various confounding factors, the social capital levels of victims serve as robust correlates of life recovery. Other important variables connected with recovery include education and income, family size, occupation, material damage suffered, stability of home, and trauma experience. The findings point to a number of relevant policy recommendations, most notably that during and following major shocks, disaster managers should work to keep the social networks of victims intact so that they can benefit from interaction with family, friends, and neighbours.