Mount Pinatub

For volcanoes, local governments should establish an exclusion zone and evacuate the citizens who live inside, as well as gather emergency funds and basic provisions (In the Path of a Killer Volcano). They can also build dams to prevent mudflows, as has been the case at Mount Sakurajima (McDowell 650). In contrast, earthquakes are too short-noticed and brief to necessitate evacuation. Instead, national and local governments should collaborate to ensure that buildings, roads, and bridges susceptible to quakes are fortified, and that citizens are instructed what to do in case of a seismic event. (“Managing tectonic hazards”). However, by undertaking these preparations whenever there is a chance of a natural disaster, a government may find itself in a predicament if the disaster never occurs. In the Mount

These awareness campaigns should occur through a variety of media, including newspapers, radios, televisions, and computers, and regular geologic hazard drills should be conducted by businesses and schools. After a group of scientific experts has established that a specific geologic hazard could threaten human lives or cause significant economic losses, the government and the media have a responsibility to communicate this forecast, as well as the uncertainty regarding the probability and the severity of the hazard. In 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted in Colombia. Geoscientists had forecast the eruption weeks beforehand, but government and media disinvolvement led to a lack of awareness about the eruption, and two subsequent mudflows killed over 23,000 people. Radio Armero was urging calm and playing gleeful music when the electricity went out and mud engulfed the station (McDowell 652). Hence, geoscientists cannot minimize damage from hazards on their