MT NYIRAGONGO CASE STUDY
According to scientists, the two main hazards of immediate concern in a future eruption of Nyiragongo are: Nyiragongo previously erupted in when people may have died in villages over run by the very fluid lava which broke out of the crater without warning from a fracture high up on the south east flank of the volcano. This report is a contribution for health sector preparedness and the involvement of the health sector in the on-going risk management of this crisis. More specific measures to reduce vulnerability in a future eruption affecting Goma include organisational, logistical and engineering interventions to maintain and chlorinate drinking water and maintain power supplies in the city, and to stockpile and distribute emergency food rations. People left the upper flanks of the volcano and headed towards Goma to escape from the lava eruptions, which had made a swath through the remoter villages. A serious problem of security existed for areas of the city, which could not be illuminated at night, particularly along the lava flows.
The absence of civil institutions and democratically elected government means that there are none of the usual administrative structures by which governing bodies can make decisions on societal risk and long term planning on behalf of the Goma population. A detailed analysis of the conflict and humanitarian crisis, including the policies towards Goma of outside governments and relief bodies, was outside the terms of reference of this report. The lessons that need to be considered in volcanic risk management for the present population of the Goma area include the following:. Food security in the occupied Palestinian territory. The lava from high up travelled with velocity of tens of kilometres per hour and solidified to a depth of cm, though marks on trees indicate that it flowed to a depth of 1.
Two lava vents were reported to have opened in Goma and these might explain the differences observed between the two flows.
This reduced the access to the area for emergency supplies, which had to be brought in by road from Kigali or Bukavu, which have the closest airports.
The eruption has occurred in a part of the world Eastern Congo that is already afflicted by a humanitarian crisis and a chronic complex nyiragongi involving armies and armed groups of at least six countries. This analysis of the human health impact of eruptions at Nyiragongo volcano is directed towards the vulnerability and mitigation issues that require to be considered in a risk assessment for future eruptions, including the potential for a catastrophic gas burst nyirzgongo Lake Kivu.
The economic activity which the programme revived, based on carpenters and builders, sent a buzz through the whole town and demonstrated clearly what a difference the reintroduction of wages made to the economy.
The last event triggered fumarolic activity that was observed by local inhabitants. An unknown, but probably important, number of the diarrhoeal cases were cholera. However, seismic activity continues at a high level and scientists are concerned that tectonic rifting may still be occurring. About 30, people stayed in the west part of the city during the eruption, and this area is not on the network.
But perhaps the aid community could be radical and say that people, especially adults, have a right to misuse their cash. Scientists recognize that a high level of monitoring is now needed if adequate warning of a future major eruption is to be provided and a potentially large loss nyiragono life is to be prevented.
A survey at two houses whose gardens adjoined the water showed potentially lethal levels of carbon dioxide at the water surface where people swam.
Human health and vulnerability in the Nyiragongo volcano crisis DR Congo Jun 2002
A survey of several well-known Mazuku on the outskirts shudy Goma and towards Sake was performed. Money does not even have to be given free though the food, pots and sheets were.
The eruption should therefore have a significant effect in mtt poverty in some social strata, at least. Scientists agree that volcano monitoring and contingency planning are essential for forecasting and wtudy to future trends.
New pits had to be dug to take the effluent, and these were often rudimentary. Lower down in the Munigi area, the eruption appears to have been more gas driven. For this major and crucial need, only cash would do.
The eruption had been preceded by a number of premonitory signs in the months and cas beforehand, such as increased fracturing and fumarolic activity on the upper southern slopes of the volcano and an increasing level of seismicity, especially between 4 – 17 January. If it circulates in the economy somewhere then it is doing its job. The risk assessment will need to incorporate expert opinion on the health hazards, especially cholera, which remains a serious hazard in a mass movement of the population of Goma in response to a volcanic threat.
Goma does not contain high-rise or densely packed buildings, so fires set off by the lava flows did not spread much further than the lava flow edge. The recent volcanic activity most related to the present crisis occurred in when Rwandan refugees settled in camps on the slopes of both volcanoes. The communications revolution in the Palestinian territories. As graves could not be dug in the lava rock, bodies were picked up by trucks for subsequent mass burial.
The scientific monitoring and evaluation work will all be useless unless the lines of communication between the GVO scientists, foreign scientists and the appropriate officials, plus the local people, are all in place, and a satisfactory method of warning the people exists in the event of an impending future eruption.
In the most serious volcanic scenarios, there will be a need for the urgent evacuation of at least a large part of the population of Goma. WHO should provide the organisational bridge between the volcano scientists and health experts and health care providers.
Case study of a Volcanic eruption : Mt. Nyiragongo Pages 1 – 3 – Text Version | FlipHTML5
We were shown the location of these vents at the roundabouts at Seigners and Bralima, m or more from the syudy of the airport runway. The WHO should establish its own programme of action in Goma, including monitoring the impact of the volcanic crisis on health and emergency preparedness for a future eruption.
Why humanitarian assistance is not a long-term solution in the OPT. In the absence of the requisite government structures, the NGO’s have a critical presence in the dissemination of information.
Volcanoes – Revision 3 – KS3 Geography – BBC Bitesize
Video footage shows a remarkable scene nyyiragongo people flooding over this narrow part of the flow and running to prevent their feet from getting burned a few minor foot burns were treated at Goma hospital. The risk of enteric disease was increased further by the destruction of housing by the flows and the resultant overcrowding.
Scientific risk assessment incorporating uncertainty. Analysis of samples of lava from the different locations shows no major mineralogical differences in their composition as would be expected if their sources had been different i.