Natural hazard

A look into the life of a volcanologist in Japan, one of the most hazardous countries for volcanoes

Shreya Arora December 7, 2020

Microscopic rock art. Chemical and textural features of olivine (ol) and orthopyroxene (opx) crystals in a lava flow from Ruapehu are revealed in these backscattered electrons (BSE) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) images. On the left, the grayscale intensity reflects the iron and magnesium contents of the minerals (brighter = higher iron (Fe); darker = higher magnesium (Mg)). On the right, unique colours correspond to the different orientations of the crystals in this cluster. Photo Credit: Chris Conway.

In this interview, I talk with Chris Conway about his experience as a volcanologist in Japan, which is one of the countries with the highest volcanic threat in the world. You will read how studying crystals found within erupted lava flows can help hazard mitigation at active volcanoes and how volcanic hazard is managed in Japan. Hi Chris!! Thank you for accepting this interview, first and foremo ...[Read More]

The earthquake traffic light

Gabriele Amato November 9, 2020

Dr. Laura Gulia is a senior post-doc at the University of Bologna, Department of Physics and Astronomy. She has a strong experience in statistical seismology, seismicity analysis as well as seismic hazard and risk assessment. Recently, she investigated the spatio-temporal evolution of the earthquake size distribution throughout a seismic sequence focusing on the b-value, a parameter characterizing ...[Read More]

Natural Hazards 101: The disaster cycle

Giulia Roder October 26, 2020

Photo credit, from top left to bottom right: Pamela Trisolino (via Imaggeo), Michiel Baatsen (via Imaggeo), Stefan Doerr (via Imaggeo), Dimitri Defrance (via Imaggeo), Katja Bigge (via Imaggeo), Babak Hejrani (via Imaggeo), Elias Sch (via Pixabay) and Dan Killam (via Imaggeo).

With the Natural Hazards 101 series, we meant to bring our readers closer to the terminology often used in the field of natural hazards, but that may not be so familiar. We started defining the very concept of hazard and natural hazard. We moved then to the concept of risk, which brought us to define exposure and vulnerability. In this episode, we will digest the disaster terminology provided by ...[Read More]

Natural Hazards 101: The concept of risk

Asimina Voskaki October 12, 2020

Photo credit, from top left to bottom right: Pamela Trisolino (via Imaggeo), Michiel Baatsen (via Imaggeo), Stefan Doerr (via Imaggeo), Dimitri Defrance (via Imaggeo), Katja Bigge (via Imaggeo), Babak Hejrani (via Imaggeo), Elias Sch (via Pixabay) and Dan Killam (via Imaggeo).

In the first episode of the series of posts called Natural Hazards 101, we focused on the definition of hazard and natural hazard, considering the recent literature. In this episode, we wish to draw your attention to the concept of risk. Although a commonly used word, the term risk might mean different things to different people. What does risk represent, and what it means in the context of ...[Read More]