Last week Mount Sinabung, an active volcano on the island of Sumatra (Indonesia), erupted killing at least 16 people. It is reported that a number of the deaths were people going back into the evacuated zone to see the eruption up close and to check on properties and land. This is a sad reminder of the power of volcanic processes and their lethal potential (see the images on the BBC News), partic ...[Read More]
Friday Photo (113) – Wall Art in San Pablo la Laguna, Guatemala
San Pablo La Laguna is a small town on the edge of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. This wall art shows local opposition to mining activities. At the time of writing I’m not sure about the background context to the image, but it raises some interesting questions about what is occurring or has occurred in this area in the past. Credit: Joel Gill (2014)
Field Research in Guatemala (3) – Environmental Hazards at Lake Atitlan
Today Joel Gill (GfGD Founding Director) continues his live reporting from Guatemala, whilst undertaking interdisciplinary field research relating to natural hazards and disaster risk reduction. This fieldwork forms part of a NERC/ESRC funded PhD, supervised by staff in the Department of Geography at King’s College London. Lake Atitlan is a beautiful location, created by a significant volcanic er ...[Read More]
Guest Blog: Death By Corruption
Ekbal Hussain is a PhD student at the University of Leeds, and helps to coordinate our group up there. He is a passionate advocate for disaster risk reduction and today writes about the relationship between corruption and earthquake fatalities. It is no profound statement to say that earthquakes are extremely dangerous natural events and are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths annually. Wh ...[Read More]