Transcript VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN JAPAN Saturday, September 27, 2014

VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN JAPAN
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
MOUNT ONTAKE
ERUPTS AFTER 35 YEARS
OF DORMANCY
ONTAKE, ONE OF 100 ACTIVE
VOLCANOES IN JAPAN, ERUPTED A
LITTLE BEFORE NOON ON
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
MOUNT ONTAKE: SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
MOUNT ONTAKE: SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
MOUNT ONTAKE: SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
PHYSICAL IMPACTS
• With a sound likened to thunder,
the 10,065 foot (3,067 m) high
volcano spewed large white
plumes of gas and ash high into
the atmosphere and blanketed the
top and surrounding area with
volcanic debris and ash reaching
thicknesses of 50 cm or more.
MOUNT ONTAKE COVERED WITH ASH
MOUNT ONTAKE COVERED WITH ASH
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 10,062foot mountain on their own, stayed in
mountain lodges.
HIKERS RETURNING: SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
HIKERS RETURNING: SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
INJURED HIKERS HAD TO TAKE
REFUGE IN ASH-COVERED LODGES
SATURDAY: INITIAL S AND R WITH
HELOCOPTERS
THE REST OF THE STORY
• 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 operations.
SUNDAY: BEGINNING OF S AND R
OPRATIONS
MOUNT ONTAKE: SUNDAY,
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
SUNDAY: S AND R WORKERS
GOING THE WRONG WAY
Sunday: Rescue workers
had to suspend S and R
operations due to toxic
gases and volcano-induced
seismic activity
MONDAY: RESCUE WORKERS ABLE
TO REACH ASH-COVERED TOP
MONDAY: RESCUE WORKERS ABLE
TO REACH ASH-COVERED TOP
A HORRIFIC SCENE
• Rescue crews found harrowing
situations near the mountaintop;
the typical scenes were of victims
buried in ash with their arms and
legs emerging from gray volcanic
dust, or of bodies pressed between
rocks where they were trying to
find shelter.
Tuesday: S and R
operations were suspended
as Mount Ontake continued
shaking violently and
coughing out toxic steam.
DEATH TOLL REACHES 36
AT LEAST 69 INJURED
BACKGROUND
Natural Phenomena That Cause
Disasters
Planet Earth’s heat
flow causes
movement of
lithospheric
plates, which
causes subduction, which
causes VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS
ELEMENTS OF VOLCANIC
HAZARDS AND RISK
ELEMENTS OF RISK
HAZARDS
EXPOSURE
RISK
VULNERABILITY
LOCATION
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
CAUSES
OF RISK
LATERAL BLAST
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
FLYING DEBRIS
VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS
CASE HISTORIES
ASH PLUME AND
GASES
LAVA FLOWS
LAHARS
TOXIC GASES
VOLCANO HAZARDS
CAN HAVE FAR REACHING IMPACTS
• VERTICAL PLUME (can affect
jet aircraft)
• ASH AND TEPHRA
• LATERAL BLAST
• PYROCLASTIC CLOUDS,
BURSTS, AND FLOWS
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)
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.
THE REASONS ARE . . .
• The community is UNPREPARED for what will likely
happen, not to mention the
low-probability of occurrence—
high-probability of adverse
consequences event.
THE REASONS ARE . . .
• The community is UNPREPARED for what will likely
happen from a “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 ALTERNATIVE TO A
VOLCANO DISASTER IS
VOLCANO DISASTER
RESILIENCE
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
VOLCANO RISK
•VOLCANO HAZARDS
•PEOPLE & BLDGS.
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
ACCEPTABLE RISK
RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
JAPAN’S
GOAL: VOLCANO
DISASTER RESILIENCE
COMMUNITIES
POLICY OPTIONS
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
• PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•EARLY WARNING
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
TECHNOLOGIES FOR
MONITORING, FORECASTING,
AND WARNING ARE VITAL FOR
SURVIVAL.
AIR AND LAND MONITORING
TECHNOLOGIES ARE VITAL
.