Volcano Experts Save Lives Around the 'Throat of Fire'

A group of citizen scientists have been saving people's lives around the "Throat of Fire" Tungurahua volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes for nearly 15 years now. A new report details the success of this network of volunteers as they struggle to preserve the lives of people who chose to live around active volcanoes.

A group of volunteer volcanologists and risk managers first engaged in communication with communities living in volcán Tungurahua, Ecuador in 2000. The resulting network of 35-strong came to be known as vigías and has been monitoring volcanic activity in the region while determining ways to improve upon eruption early warning systems and citizen protection plans.

It is hoped that the resulting the research will help inform similar community-based disaster risk reduction projects around the world.

The group's findings were detailed in a report recently published in the Journal of Applies Volcanology.

According to researchers, many communities around active volcanoes are hastily evacuated at the first signs of eruption. However, with nowhere to go, and having spent their entire lives in that one region, villagers often overwhelm checkpoints to prematurely reoccupy their homes.

"This pattern of re-occupation is common in volcanic areas and after other natural disasters," lead researcher Jonathan Stone said in a recent statement.

To help these people live as safe as possible while remaining where they have always lived, the vigías were formed.

"The ideal risk reduction scenario would be to move people out of the way of the volcano permanently, but clearly this is not always practical," Stone said. "People often want to live and work in particular locations for a number of reasons, and anyway, there are few places that you can move in the Ecuadorian Andes that aren't threatened by one or several volcanoes."

The Spanish word "vigía" means watchman or guard, but the researchers quickly found their roles require more than just telling people it was time to leave when an eruption reared its ugly head.

"The vigías are members of the community who help scientists collect data about volcanic activity, are part of a vital early warning system for eruptions, and ... act as a bridge between the community and the scientists," Stone explained.

Since a pivotal eruption occurred in 2006, with minimal loss of life, the vigías network has stepped up its game, reporting absolutely no new deaths, despite a number of eruptions occurring even this year.

"Scientists are considered friends and colleagues, which also has a big impact on the success of the network," Stone added.