El Misti in Peru, as seen from Arequipa.
As I like to remind people concerning volcanic hazards, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure. This is not to imply we can prevent volcanic hazards from affecting us, but rather that proper mitigation in the form of monitoring, planning, education and practice can save countless lives (and dollars) when a volcano erupts. Officials in Peru seem to believe this, as they recently ran for practice evacuations for residents around El Misti, in the southern part of the country. Jersy Mariño from the Instituto Geológico, Minero y Metalúrgico (INGEMMET) says that upwards of 100,000 people living around the volcano (in spanish) could be in harms' way when El Misti erupts again. So, officials and residents have taken part in evacuation drills to be able to (a) know what to do if a real evacuation is needed and (b) ...
