Volcano Case Study - Congo Flashcards
What is the case study called?
Mt Nyiragongo, Congo
What are the characteristics of the place?
dense urban population in Goma
228th poorest country in the world
68% live below the poverty line
DR Congo is slowly recovering from a civil war, which led to 5 million deaths between 1994 - 2003, but many eastern areas are still plagues by violence as various rebel groups continue to operate there.
There is no protection as rapid growth of informal housing in Goma due to rural-urban migration & refugee movements.
There is some prediction methods, ongoing monitoring issues warnings of lava flows
What are the characteristics of the hazard?
constructive boundary (continental)
Large basaltic stratovolcano
13 km fissure
VEI 1
Fast moving lava (90kmph)
What was the primary impact?
Lava flowed through Goma (destroyed nearby villages)
Lava destroyed 30% of infrastructure in Goma
400,000 fled to Rwanda
16,000 homes destroyed
What were the secondary impacts?
Looting
Heat of lava ignited local buildings leading to fires across Goma
Drinking water poisoned
Name some social and economic impacts?
Social - 147 died (47 in first 24hrs)
Economic - 350,000 depended on aid
What were the risks?
The Goma area is part of the fertile agricultural region. The combination of altitude and fertile ground which encourages an extended growing season has encouraged large numbers of people to settle there.
Since 1882, there has been 34 eruptions
Was the area vulnerable?
The warning was not communicated. The absence of effective evacuation directly caused the high death rate.
The lava flow was travelling too quickly (around 42 kph ) and therefore people in vulnerable areas could not outrun it
Rwanda struggled to provide food, and over 150,000 fled their homes. This caused an overflow of people
What are the long term management strategies?
they created a city evacuation plan in 2021 to prepare for future events
What are the short term response strategies?
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