LAVA FLOW: A SILENT VOLCANIC HAZARD IN HAWAII

Thursday, 30 October 2014

LAVA FLOW: A SILENT VOLCANIC HAZARD IN HAWAII

Thursday, 30 October 2014

LAVA FLOW FROM KILAUEA ADVANCES TOWARD PAHOALAVA FLOW FROM KILAUEA ADVANCES TOWARD PAHOA

PAHOA HAWAII

• A contingent of National Guard troops was dispatched to a Hawaii town on Thursday to provide security to the Big Island com-munity of Pahoa threatened by a river of molten lava that is slowly creeping toward the town's main road.

BACKGROUND

ELEMENTS OF VOLCANIC HAZARDS AND RISK

HAZARDSHAZARDS

ELEMENTS OF RISK ELEMENTS OF RISK

EXPOSUREEXPOSURE

VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATION

RISKRISK

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

100 OF THE WORLD’S 1,500 ACTIVE VOLCANOES ARE IN JAPAN

100 OF THE WORLD’S 1,500 ACTIVE VOLCANOES ARE IN JAPAN

LATERAL BLAST

VOLCANIC

ERUPTIONS

VOLCANIC

ERUPTIONS

PYROCLASTIC FLOWS

FLYING DEBRIS

ASH PLUME AND GASES

LAVA FLOWS

LAHARS

TOXIC GASES

CAUSES OF RISK

CAUSES OF RISK

CASE HISTORIESCASE HISTORIES

VOLCANO HAZARDS CAN HAVE FAR REACHING IMPACTS

• VERTICAL PLUME (can affect jet aircraft)

• ASH AND TEPHRA• LATERAL BLAST• PYROCLASTIC CLOUDS,

BURSTS, AND FLOWS

LAVA FLOW MOVING AT 5 M PER HOUR TOWARDS PAHOA

LAVA FLOW MOVING AT 5 M PER HOUR TOWARDS PAHOA

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)

THE REASONS FOR DISASTERS TO OCCUR. . .

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

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.

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.

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.

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

HAWAII’S

COMMUNITIES

HAWAII’S

COMMUNITIESDATA BASES AND INFORMATIONDATA BASES AND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

• VOLCANO HAZARDS

• PEOPLE & BLDGS. • VULNERABILITY• LOCATION

VOLCANO RISK

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

GOAL: VOLCANO DISASTER RESILIENCE

• PREPAREDNESS• PROTECTION• EARLY WARNING• EMERGENCY RESPONSE• RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONS