The USGS/USAID
Volcano Disaster Assistance Program

INTRODUCTION

The decade of the 1980's was a period of frequent destructive volcanic eruptions. Indeed, the 1980's registered more eruption-related deaths than in any ten-year period since 1902. This destructive trend has continued through the first several years of the 1990's. As rapidly growing populations in developing countries encroach on areas of high volcano hazard, there is every reason to expect that the potential for volcano-related casualties will increase. VDAP has the capability to mitigate volcano hazards through technology transfer, training, and rapid response to volcano unrest. In the following pages we describe the current status of VDAP, our operating strategies, and the framework within which we propose to operate in the next five years.

In order to maintain an international volcano-hazards-mitigation capability over the next five years, we believe that VDAP should continue to support the core Volcano Crisis Assistance Team (VCAT) in Vancouver, Washington and the institutions and observatories that VDAP has helped to develop in Latin America and the Philippines. We also propose a five-year plan that places additional emphasis on Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua to assist those countries to become more self-sufficient in mitigating volcano hazards within their borders. This emphasis is designed to provide technical training and assistance in volcano-hazards assessment, volcano monitoring, and hazards mitigation through workshops held in Costa Rica as well as through specific in-country assistance by USGS personnel.

BACKGROUND

1. Preparation for volcano emergencies well in advance through training and long-term collaboration on building and maintaining monitoring networks, and on hazard-assessment activities.
2. Rapid-response assistance in volcano monitoring to determine if magma is moving under a volcano, whether it is likely to reach the surface, and where;
3. Rapid-response assistance in volcano-hazard assessment to determine the nature and timing of past eruptive and associated hydrologic activity and the distribution of products from past eruptions;
4. Assistance in interpreting monitoring and hazard-assessment data and communicating results to local officials;
5. Assessment of watershed conditions following eruptive activity and analysis of subsequent hazards associated with landslides, debris flows, floods, and high-sediment yields;
6. Assistance in deploying flow monitors to detect debris flows and floods along drainages that threaten communities.

The Volcano Crisis Assistance Team

The VCAT Equipment Cache

VDAP OPERATIONS

1. Rapid response to restless volcanoes is essential. Installation of a monitoring network and completion of geologic investigations to determine the character of past eruptions, and thus potential hazards, can take weeks to months to complete. The time interval between the beginning of unrest and eruptive activity can be short. The sooner a response is started, the better the chances of correctly interpreting what may happen and of issuing timely warnings.
2. VCAT is deployed by invitation only. To become involved in a crisis response VCAT requires an official request through diplomatic channels from the host country.
3. VDAP's operational philosophy is to work with local scientists to help them to provide timely information and analysis to emergency managers and public officials.
4. A long-term goal of VDAP is to help host countries to develop an independent capability to mitigate volcano hazards. VDAP aims to help host countries become self-sufficient in volcano monitoring and hazard assessment.
5. VDAP is developing a database on Latin American volcanism to assist in quick evaluations of future volcanic unrest. The database includes maps, literature, and data such as the magnitude and frequency of past eruptions, and people and property at risk at specific volcanoes.
6. The volcano-monitoring systems used by VDAP are designed specifically for ease of use in developing countries. The systems are standardized and non-proprietary, which permits regional sharing of technical expertise.

Present Status of the VDAP

The VCAT equipment cache has been replenished following its deployment during the Mount Pinatubo eruption and provision of equipment to observatories in Colombia and Ecuador. After crisis responses much of the VDAP equipment is left permanently in host countries, and thus, must be regenerated after each event. Modest additions of equipment to the cache over the next five years will maintain its readiness and enhance its effectiveness. VCAT is continuing to improve and enhance the capabilities of monitoring hardware and software that are used in volcano-crisis response. One problem faced by scientists monitoring restless volcanoes is determining whether or not eruptive activity is occurring, especially during darkness or inclement weather. We are adding important new tools to our VCAT equipment cache including a doppler weather radar, a lightning-detection system, and a satellite-image-acquisition system. These new state-of-the-art tools should be operational in 1994. We believe that they will allow us to better identify hazardous events and provide information about them to disaster management authorities.

VDAP is currently supporting, with equipment and regular training/working visits, three volcano observatories in Colombia, a volcano observatory in Ecuador, two observatories in the Philippines, and an observatory in Guatemala. Continued modest assistance to these institutions on a regular basis is necessary to keep the observatories functioning. The VDAP has recently completed training programs on various aspects of volcano monitoring for staff members from Latin American and Philippine institutions. In Amendment 11 to the VDAP Participating Agency Service Agreement (PASA), we propose a new training initiative for Central America, described in detail below.

The VDAP has recently published Spanish translations of critical publications on volcano monitoring and hazard assessment. These published translations will aid our ongoing training efforts, and our ability to communicate effectively with hazards-mitigation authorities in Latin America. Additional documents will be translated and published over the next five years.

REFERENCES CITED

 
Ewert, J.W. and Lockhart, A.B., 1992, 
        USGS-OFDA Volcano Disaster Assistance Program and recent non-VDAP 
        contributions to international volcano-hazards mitigation: 
        Interim Report to OFDA, 19 p.
 
Ewert, J.W. and Swanson, D.A., eds., 1993 
        Vigilando volcanes: Tecnicas y estrategias empleadas por el personal 
        del Observatorio Vulcanologico Cascades, 1980-90: 
	Translation of U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1966, 237 p.
 
Hammelton, R., James, M, Green, R. and Heiken, G., 1993, 
        Evaluation of the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program: Guatemala, 
        Ecuador and Philippines: Report to USAID-OFDA by Basic Health 
        Management under contract AFR-1520-C-00-1128-00, 33 p.
 
Tilling, R.I., ed., 1993, 
        Los peligros volcanicos:Translation of American Geophysical Union 
	Short Course in Geology: Volume 1, 125 p.