Volcano watch: Hawai‘i’s role in reducing volcanic risk around the world

In 1902, visionary geologist Thomas Jaggar—founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory—traveled to the Caribbean Island of Martinique, where he witnessed first-hand the aftermath of the deadly Mount Pelee eruption. More than 30,000 people had been killed by the eruption, and the devastation he observed contributed to Jaggar’s lifelong work to “protect life and property on the basis of sound scientific achievement.”

Today, more than 800 million people—ten percent of the world’s population—live within 100 km (62 mi) of active, potentially deadly volcanoes. In the last four centuries, nearly 280,000 people have been killed by volcanic activity, according to a recent book commissioned by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction for the 2015 Global Assessment Report.

Despite this, many nations around the world lack resources to properly train and grow teams of experts in volcano monitoring, eruption response, and hazard assessment—key skills required to help societies prosper in volcanically active areas.