In the last class, we discuss the problem that the eruption of volcano in Chile caused. The article says that Chile’s Calbuco volcano erupted very recently and the ash covered cities nearby and destroyed roofs of a number of homes and offices because of its weight. Many people are forced to take refuge and one of the local people described the stricken area as a “grey desert”. The eruption caused huge amount of financial losses and the Chilean government said that it would aid the area financially. There are also many concerns other than the direct effects of the eruption. Further eruptions could happen in the near future and rain would change the ash into dangerous mudflows mixed with debris.
Reading this article, the incident that happened last year in japan came to my mind. That is the eruption of Mt. Ontake that killed or injured more than 100 people. When it comes to these natural disaster, all we can do is to minimize the damage including secondary disaster after disasters happen. Although It’s impossible to control natural disasters itself such as these eruption or tsunami, we can reduce the number of victims by taking precautions against these disasters. In the Mt. Ontake’s case, it is said that many people didn’t wear helmets and submit mountain-climbing registration and that is the one of the reason the number of victims is large. In this country, Japan that has experienced and would face many natural disasters, the most important thing might be not predicting disasters but each one knowing the risks and prepares as far as possible.