1 Follow instructions
2Beware of ashfall
3Stay safe
VOLCANIC ERUPTION
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DURING A VOLCANIC ERUPTION
1 Follow instructions
• If a volcano erupts while you are at home, make sure that all family
members and household pets are accounted for, and close all your doors, windows, and vents.
• If you are not advised to evacuate, stay inside.
• Listen to your radio for official instructions. A period of calm may
follow an eruption. Be prepared because you may be told to leave then to escape further eruptions.
! If you are outside
• Try to get inside a building.
• If you are caught in a rock fall, roll into a ball to protect your head.
• If you suspect that you are in the path of a nuée ardente( see box below), you can
survive only by finding shelter underground or submerging yourself in water. The danger usually passes in just 30 seconds.
• If you are caught near a stream, beware of mudflows( see box below). Do not cross a
bridge if a mudflow is moving beneath it because the bridge could be swept away.
2Beware of ashfall
• If you have breathing problems, such as asthma, stay inside.
• Press damp towels firmly around doors and windows, and any other draft sources.
• Avoid driving: heavy ashfall clogs engines, often causing cars to stall.
• Clear volcanic ash from the roof of your house: its weight can cause buildings to collapse. Be careful when working on the roof, and put on protective clothing, goggles, and a dust mask before going out.
3Stay safe
• If you were evacuated, stay out of any restricted areas until you are given the official all-clear.
• Be aware that mudflows, ashfall, flash floods, and wildfires can reach you even if you are far from the volcano and are unable to see it.
• When you return home, or if you never left, dampen and clean up ash that has settled around the house, being careful not to wash it into drains. Put on your protective clothing, goggles, and a dust mask.
UNDERSTANDING THE DANGERS
• Ash and other debris rain down from the sky, covering
buildings, land, and people.
• Debris flows are a mixture of water and volcanic debris that
flows down the volcano sides. They can travel long distances and destroy whole villages.
• Mudflows are fast-moving rivers of mud that flow from
volcanoes down river valleys and over low-lying areas.
• Lava flows are fairly unlikely to kill you because they move
slowly, but anything that stands in their path will be burned, crushed, or buried.
• Pyroclastic surges are mixtures of rock fragments and hot
gases that move rapidly across land like hurricanes. Anyone caught in their paths is likely to be burned, asphyxiated, or crushed.
RED-HOT LAVA FLOW
• Nuées ardentes are rapidly moving, red-hot clouds of ash,
gas, and rock fragments that flow down the side of a volcano at speeds of over 100 mph( 160 km / h).