LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS JAPAN PART

LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS JAPAN PART 3: VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT PLACE JAPAN’S COMMUNITIES AT RISK EARTHQUAKES GOAL: DISASTER RESILIENCE ENACT AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES HAVING HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE TYPHOONS FLOODS LANDSLIDES VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

REGIONAL MAP

542 OF THE 1, 500 ACTIVE VOLCANOES ARE LOCATED IN “RING OF FIRE”

Japan lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a narrow zone around the Pacific Ocean where most of Earth's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

VOLCANOES ERUPT EVERY YEAR IN JAPAN AS A RESULT OF COMPLEX INTERACTIONS OF THE PACIFIC, PHILIPPINE, EURASIAN, AND NORTH AMERICAN PLATES

JAPAN’S VOLCANO FACTS • Of the 1, 500 active volcanoes in the world, Japan has 108 of them.

JAPAN’S VOLCANO FACTS • Japan experiences an average of 10 volcanic eruptions per year.

CAUSES OF RISK LATERAL BLAST PYROCLASTIC FLOWS FLYING DEBRIS VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS CASE HISTORIES VOLCANIC ASH LAVA FLOWS LAHARS TOXIC GASES

VOLCANO RISK • VOLCANO HAZARDS • PEOPLE & BLDGS. • VULNERABILITY • LOCATION DATA BASES AND INFORMATION ACCEPTABLE 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

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)

JAPAN’S MOST NOTABLE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS MOUNT UNZEN--MAY 21, 1792

MT. UNZEN • Mt. Unzen’s eruption on May 21, 1792, was one of the worst in Japan’s long history of volcanic eruptions. • Mount Unzen is located near the city of Shimabara in Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu

MT UNZEN: 1792

REMEMBERING THE MAY 21, 1792’S DISASTER • About 1 month after the lava from Mt Unzen’s eruption stopped flowing, a massive landslide on the flank of nearby Mount Mayuyama swept through ancient Shimabara City, entered the sea, and generated a tsunami. • More than 15, 000 people were killed by the landslide and tsunami

JAPAN’S VOLCANO FACTS • Mt. Unzen and Mt. Sakurajima are considered to be two of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of their potential for a violent eruption that would have devastating impacts on the surrounding highdensity population centers. .

SOME OF JAPAN’S CURRENTLY ACTIVE VOLCANOES • Mount Meakan Mount Usu Mount Asama Torishima Sakurajima Suwanosejima Oyama

SHINMOEDAKE ERUPTS IN JAPAN eruption began at 7: 30 AM Although called a minor eruption, it was the largest eruption since 1959 JANUARY 26 -31, 2011

SHINMOEDAKE; JANUARY 26 -31, 2011

JAPAN HAS 104 ACTIVE VOLCANOES The 1, 421 -m (4, 662 -ft) Mount Shinmoedake is a part of the Kirishima volcano complex comprised of 20 active volcanoes

Mount Shinmoedake is located on the border of the Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures

In the previous four months, Miyazaki prefecture had also suffered from an epidemic of the H 5 N 1 bird flu, and a foot-andmouth epidemic that was expected to cause ~ $ 2 billion in economic losses for the local livestock industry.

The inflation of the Shinmoedake volcano that eventually culminated in an eruption had been underway since December 2009

May 10, 2010 to January 26, 2011: ~6 million m 3 (0. 006 km 3) of magma in a reservoir at 6 km depth ~10 km west-nw from Shinmoedake and another 1 million m 3 (0. 001 km 3) of magma at 3 km depth under the Shinmoedake cone itself.

The eruption produced lava fountains, andesitic lava flows, lightning, and ash emissions that reached a height of nearly 5 miles (7. 5 km)

ERUPTION OF SHINMOEDAKE

IMPACTS

Approximately 13, 000 hectares of farm land were damaged by the falling ash deposits.

Flights in the region were canceled and 1, 100 people in the vicinity were evacuated to gymnasiums and other facilities in the town of Takaharu, seven miles east of Kirishima.

ERUPTION VIEWED FROM TAKAHARU

TOWARDS DISASTER RISK REDUCTION FOR VOLCANOES RISK ASSESSMENT • VULNERABILITY • COST • EXPOSURE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS • EVENT EXPECTED LOSS • BENEFIT • CONSEQUENCES POLICY ASSESSMENT POLICY ADOPTION

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

MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES AND WARNING SYSTEMS ARE A VITAL PART OF SURVIVAL.

AIR AND LAND MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES ARE VITAL.