Fuego Volcano Eruption - Case Study 3 Flashcards
Where is Fuego located in relation to famous places?
27 miles SW of Guatemala City (the capital)
16 km west from Antigua a very popular tourist destination
The 2018 eruption - Time line of events:
June 3rd - Fuego erupts for the second time in 2018; clouds of smoke and ash billow from the volcano and lava engulfs nearby villages
June 4th - Fuego erupts again several times but with less force
June 5th - Strong explosions causes a new pyroclastic flow that sends rescuers and civilians fleeing
June 6th and 7th - Search and rescue teams continue to push through ash and debris to reach villages buried under lava and debris
June 8th - Government authorities called for new evacuations as accumulated ash threatens to spill into new areas
June 17th - Guatemala disaster agency discontinues searching for victims in the worst affected areas
June 18th to present - Fuego continues to spew ash on a regular basis and the government still tries to help families
Volcanic ash
15 km in height
Spread over a 12 mile radius
Pyroclastic Flows
Fast moving louds of hot gas and volcanic matter
Left no evacuation time and therefore caused many of the casualties and crop damage
Travel 62-430mph and temperatures up to 1000 degrees C
Lahars
Ash mixed with heavy rainfall travels down the hill like a mudflow and will set like concrete
Buried several villages and cut off roadways
Due to Lahars rescue attempts had to be suspended on June 3rd
Environmental impacts
Destroyed an estimated 21,000 acres of corn, bean and coffee crops
How many people were killed, injured and went missing by the volanoes?
190 killed
57 injured
256 missing as of 30 July 2018
How many people were evacuated and how many were being accommodated in temporary shelters?
12,000 evacuated
3,000 people accommodated
How many people affected by ashfall?
1.7 million people
Why did the airport have to close and when did reopen?
Only 25 miles away from volcano so had to close due to ash on tarmac
Reopened on June 4th
How many buildings were estimated to be destroyed by pyroclastic flow
411
Why was there limited response to the eruption?
President Morales said he couldn’t spend a penny of the governments budgets on the disaster
How many hours early did seismologists give CONRED for evacuations and how long did CONRED give before the volcano erupted?
Seismologists gave CONRED 8 hours
CONRED gave the population 5 hours (and only voluntary evacuations)
Why was it really difficult to know how many people died?
Guatemala’s 2012 census cancelled for political reasons meant that know one actually knew who lived in the disaster zone
What were the attempts to mitigate the event?
There were no attempts to mitigate the event
What were the attempts to mitigate against vulnerability?
CONRED was created to prevent disasters and to reduce their impact on society
Seismometers showed shallow frequent earthquakes
4 day flight ban following eruption
Eventually (after eruption had occurred) >3000 people evacuated to nearby towns in public buildings such as schools and football stadiums
What were the attempts to mitigate against loss?
Initial evacuation led by volunteer fire fighters but it was very difficult
Severely wounded individuals sent to Mexico and USA (rescue effort hindered by bad weather0
CONRED the day after sent out evac teams of 1200
CONRED opened temporary shelters for those forced to flee
What are the criticisms of mitigation strategies?
CONRED failed to pass on the info that an eruption will occur in time meaning people were still in the disaster zone when Fuego erupted
Training the residents received was rendered useless as the eruption was too quick
Although 21 evac shelters were set up however the populations within the shelters was lower then the number of people evacuated
Some people had to return home to the volcano for the fertile soils
Corrupt government didn’t spend any money on mitigation
