47
The 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens.
Nearly 10%
of the world’s
population
(500m people)
live within
100 KM of a
historically
active volcano
Small C. and Naumann T. ‘Holocene volcanism and the
global distribution of human population’. Environmental
Hazards, 3: 93-109.
A disproportionately high number of these active
volcanoes lie in less economically developed countries,
where rapid urbanisation and growing populations have
increased the risk of future volcanic eruptions affecting
public health.
Communities throughout the world
continue to live within areas of active
volcanism despite repeat, catastrophic
eruptions, and some have developed
measures to mitigate volcanic hazards,
including engineering solutions, monitoring
systems, evacuation plans and land-use
restrictions.
While these measures address the