Based on Scientific Analysis, Can A Volcano be Prevented or Predicted?

People’s lives are greatly influenced by the environmental conditions around them, which dynamically change. Natural disasters are a risk from environmental changes. No one really knows about when natural disasters will happen. How about a volcano? Can a volcano be prevented or predicted?

A volcano is a geological structure which formed by a process of magma (molten rock) coming out from the earth’s mantle to the earth’s crust. It periodically changes and we called volcanic eruptions.

Can A Volcano be Prevented or Predicted? Yes or No?

Each of the natural disasters certainly has a reason, including volcanic eruptions. There are many factors of volcanic activity and all of them are purely natural phenomena.  So, it can’t be prevented no matter what its form and how big its power is.

Every volcanic activity definitely has impacts, especially if the activity is volcanic eruptions. Given this fact, can a volcano be predicted? Yes, volcanic activity can be predicted including many factors that caused it.

The Reason Why A Volcano Can’t be Prevented

A volcano is a volcanic cone formed by volcanic activity (the release of magma from within the earth to the outside). It is purely a natural phenomenon, so a volcano can’t be prevented. It also triggers many impacts on the society in a volcano’s area which is impossible to prevent.

1. The Formation of Volcano

The earth consists of several layers. One of them is the earth’s mantle which consists of very hot rocks and magma. In the outermost layer (lithosphere), there are tectonic plates actively moving. When one plate is subducting another plate, it causes magma to come out.

Magma that reaches the earth’s surface (crust where we live) is eventually pushed out and becomes lava, ash, and gas. All of this material accumulates around the volcano’s vent and forms a volcanic cone. This activity continues and fluctuates in frequency and strength.

2. The Impacts of Volcanic Eruption

Volcanic activity periodically changes according to the condition of the magma inside the earth. This phenomenon can’t be prevented, including what the impacts are. There are two sides to the impacts, such as negative and positive.

First, the negative impacts include physical and social damage. Physical damage includes death, injuries, health problems of respiratory irritation due to exposure to the volcano ash, and damage to buildings and other infrastructure. Social damage includes mental health issues, economic instability, etc.

Second, the positive impacts include increases in soil fertility, the potential of natural resources (for the mining sector and building materials), and tourism potential. 

A Volcano Can be Predicted

Questions about can a volcano be prevented or predicted have started to be answered. It is known that volcanic activity can’t be prevented. However, various volcanic activities can be observed and measured to predict volcanic eruptions that need to be watched out for. There are several indicators to predict volcanic eruptions.

1. Seismicity

Scientists can monitor the volcano activity through seismicity. The changes in volcanic activity can cause earthquakes that can monitored by a seismograph. This device observes and records all volcanic earthquakes, then it visualizes the results in the graphic model.

Earthquake magnitude is measured with the Richter scale. If the frequency and intensity of volcanic earthquakes increase, it indicates the magma movement to the surface.

2. Ground Deformation

Ground deformation is one of the volcanic earthquakes. It is a change of land shape and position due to several factors, like pressure, shifting, or volume changes. For your information, ground deformation also endangers buildings and infrastructure above it.

3. Gas and Temperature Changes

The next impact of volcanic activity is gas and temperature changes. These changes are signs that a volcano is more active and an eruption will be occur.

Early Warning System of Volcanic Activity

Several methods to predict volcanic eruptions above are also used to forecast the type of eruptions, the development of volcanic activity status, safe radius, and the impacts caused. All of this information is ultimately analyzed and used in an early warning system.

There are scales of volcanic activity, which start from normal, alert, and warning. If the status is above normal, then it is a sign that surrounding people must be on alert. Giving an early warning system is a must for minimizing the risk of volcanic eruptions.

After knowing the answer of can a volcano be prevented or predicted, an early warning system needs to be implemented. A government as a front guard protecting the community needs to implement the mitigation program, including for volcanic eruptions. An early warning system with a short message system (SMS) is recommended. Let’s access the product via smsbroadcaster.com.