LIFE IN A FIRE’S SHADOW

Why do people live in volcanic danger zones? Amy Donovan answers

Around the world, 750 million people live within 90km of a volcano. Good grief, why? Some simply don’t realise it is active — which was the case for the islanders of Montserrat prior to the devastating 1995 eruptions. Others are trapped by poverty and poor governance. Yet many perceive the benefits of living near volcanoes as outweighing the risks. After all, most erupt very rarely — some only every few thousand years or so. In a human lifetime, this is a relatively fleeting threat.

The perks, meanwhile, can be many: fertile land, mining resources, geothermal energy and a thriving tourist industry. Furthermore, volcanoes often make for striking landscapes — and so can be unrivalled symbols of place.

In some countries, there are relatively few areas that are wholly safe — think of Japan, Chile and Indonesia, all of which sit on large fault lines with chains of volcanoes and the risk of earthquakes.

And Naples — between Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei — is among the world’s most dangerous places for volcanic hazard in terms of exposed population, but locals see this as the source of tourist revenue, and as fundamental to the history of the region.

Many have rituals to keep them safe. On Mount Merapi, Indonesia, a local guardian communes with the mountain spirits, his role to maintain harmony between the local sultan, the mountain and the sea. His predecessor was killed in a 2010 eruption.