[U-06] How JpGU will manage environment and disaster?

[U06-05] Activity Survey of Volcano Experts in Volcanic Disaster Councils Conducted by The Volcanological Society of Japan

*Yasuhiro Ishimine¹ (1.Research and Education Center for Natural Hazards, Kagoshima University)

Keywords:Commission on Mitigation of Volcanic Disasters, Ontakesan 2014 Eruption, Volcanic Disaster Councils, Act on Special Measures Concerning Active Volcanoes

I will present a preliminary result of a questionnaire survey on a role that volcanologists would play during a volcanic crisis. The survey was conducted by the Commission on Mitigation of Volcanic Disasters of The Volcanological Society of Japan to obtain information about the efforts and opinions of volcanologist regarding the support on crisis response of local governments. Volcanic eruptions seldom occur but they generate various peculiar phenomena such as explosive eruptions with volcanic blocks and ash, lava flows, pyroclastic flows, and debris flows that may result in devastating disasters. In addition, the forecasting of eruptions is difficult. As a result, the advice of researchers who study basic processes of volcanoes would play an important role in response of general public and authorities during volcanic crises. Many researchers in the field of volcanology have experienced the situation that they were required to give some advices on what emergency managers should do to respond volcanic disasters. Furthermore, the Act on Special Measures Concerning Active Volcanoes has been revised in 2015 on the basis of the lessons learned from the Ontake 2014 eruption in which 63 people were dead or missing. The local governments around active volcanoes are prescribed by the law to have a volcanic disaster council that involves volcano experts. However, there are no protocols or guideline for volcano experts on how to give advice to emergency managers. In order to find good practice to give reasonable and consistent advice, the Volcanological Society of Japan conducted a questionnaire survey targeting 77 volcano experts involved in volcanic disaster council organized by local governments. The result indicates that there are diverse opinions among the experts to be discussed.