Revealing 4 Volcano Facts and Risk Mitigation

Have you ever been affected by a volcanic eruption? The risk of eruption depends on the strength of the eruption, the type of eruption, and the accuracy of disaster handling. To learn about volcanic activity and risk management, learn the volcano facts and the risk mitigation below.

4 Volcano Facts that are Important to Know

Each volcano has its own characteristic that determines the eruption it causes. Here are four interesting volcano facts to know.

1. Volcano Formed by Tectonic Plates Movement

The first fact, volcano is formed by tectonic plates movement. Tectonic plates include the outermost layer of the earth (lithosphere). It consists of two parts called the earth's crust and the upper mantle. On the inside, there are convection currents and then trigger the tectonic plates to move.

The push of currents can cause folds or faults, and then form geological phenomena. The volcano and mountains are formed by convergent movements, where the plates are colliding with each other. This movement causes folds. However, this only happens if the two colliding plates have the same strength. If one plate is stronger, it forms ocean trenches or underwater volcanoes.

2. Magma Activity Can Cause Earthquake

Volcanic activity is determined by the activity of magma inside it. The movement of magma towards the earth's surface is determined by convection currents in the earth's mantle. If there is a strong current, magma moves upwards and causes a volcanic eruption. That is what causes earthquake and then called volcanic earthquake.

3. Any Type of Volcanic Eruption

The impacts of volcanic eruption are determined by its type. The type of volcanic eruption has already known by geologists, but still need to continue observing the changes of mountain condition.

Some types are Stromboli (between eruptions have the same duration), Hawaii (liquid lava and flows in various directions), Merapi (thick lava that clogs the crater mouth and can be thrown out if the gas pressure is strong), and Volcano (solid material). 

Two dangerous types are Plinian (large power) and Sint Vincent (has a crater lake, the water comes out when it erupts).

4. Dormant Volcano Still Has Potential to Erupt

This volcano type is more dangerous. Why? A dormant volcano has not erupted for a long time, so there is an accumulation of magma and formed a huge pressure inside. Because of that, the dormant volcano can suddenly erupt very violently. However, it still shows signs of eruption.

Risk Mitigation of Volcano Eruption

Every disaster has its risks, including volcanic eruptions. The various risks of magma rising to the earth's surface need to be handled properly. The right effort is to carry out risk mitigation that includes before, during, and after an eruption. The goal is to reduce the impact of the eruption.

1. Monitoring and Analyzing Volcano Activity

In natural disaster risk mitigation, the first thing to do is to monitor and analyze volcanic activity, which is related to magma activity. Observations made include the frequency of volcanic earthquakes, temperature changes, volcanic gas emissions, lava flows and hot clouds. All observations, directly or using tools, will be analyzed and synchronized with the history of volcanic eruptions.

2. Giving Emergency Alert

Integration of early warning system and evacuation warning system is the form of effective risk mitigation. After a volcanic eruption is predicted, an early warning system is issued as a notification to the community that may be affected.

Not only that, an evacuation warning system is issued, which contains an appeal to immediately evacuate. Evacuation warning contains information on evacuation routes, assembly points, and evacuation procedures.

3. Doing Evacuation

The third stage is evacuation, involving many related parties. After an evacuation alert is given, the evacuation should start immediately. An emergency bag, containing a survival kit, is advised for the public to make the evacuation process more effective.

The community must focus and be calm during the evacuation process. Next, the emergency response team will guide the community to move to a safe place through the evacuation route. This is needed to ensure that the evacuation process is running well (effectively, safely, and according to procedure).

4. Recovery and Evaluation

The final stage of risk mitigation is recovery and evaluation. The recovery includes environmental cleaning, treatment of injured victims, psychological assistance, fulfillment of needs in evacuation centers, restoration of agricultural land, and socio-economic recovery.

From the entire series of risk mitigation, from observation to post-disaster recovery, an evaluation is carried out to determine whether each phase has been carried out according to standards or not, and how successful it is.

Knowing the amazing and terrifying volcano facts, all parties should be prepared to anticipate volcanic eruptions. Effective mitigation efforts are needed to reduce material and non-material risks. Early warning systems and evacuation warnings are needed to provide information to the entire community, especially those located in volcanic areas.

The warning system is more effective with real-time emergency message delivery via SMS (Short Message Service) services to mobile phones. To avoid delivery delays, a message sending machine is needed, which can be obtained via smsbroadcaster.com. Let's check!