Deaths during the May 18, 1980, Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Eisele, John W.; O'Halloran, Ronald L.; Reay, Donald T.; Lindholm, George R.; Lewman, Larry V.; Brady, William J.

doi:10.1056/nejm198110153051606

Cited by 39 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Autopsies have been rare after volcanic eruptions, but were performed at Mount St Helens in 1980 (Eisele et al, 1981). This detailed study, based on 25 victims, indicated how the cause of death was related to the distance from the vent as the velocity, density and temperature of the PDC fell over the course of a run-out that extended as far as 28 km.…”

Section: Literature Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to pyroclastic density currents in explosive eruptions

Spence

Kelman

Brown³

et al. 2007

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract.A major hazard during the eruption of explosive volcanoes is the formation of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). Casualties and physical building damage from PDCs are caused by the temperature, pressure, and particle load of the flow. This paper examines the vulnerability of buildings and occupants to the forces imposed by PDCs along with associated infiltration of PDC particle and gas mixtures into an intact building. New studies are presented of building and occupant vulnerability with respect to temperature, pressure, and ash concentration. Initial mitigation recommendations are provided.

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Section: Literature Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to pyroclastic density currents in explosive eruptions

Spence

Kelman

Brown³

et al. 2007

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Volcanic ash may cause severe tracheal injury, pulmonary edema and bronchial obstruction at high concentrations-leading to death from acute pulmonary injury or suffocation (Eisele et al, 1981;Manni et al, 1988). Deaths from hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide have been documented in Cameroon, Japan and Iceland (Kawari et al, 1978;Thorarinsson, 1979).…”

Section: Health Effects Associated With Volcanic-related Hazmat Releasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural and technologic hazardous material releases during and after natural disasters: a review

Young

Balluz

Malilay

2004

Science of The Total Environment

198

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Natural disasters may be powerful and prominent mechanisms of direct and indirect hazardous material (hazmat) releases. Hazardous materials that are released as the result of a technologic malfunction precipitated by a natural event are referred to as natural-technologic or na-tech events. Na-tech events pose unique environmental and human hazards. Disaster-associated hazardous material releases are of concern, given increases in population density and accelerating industrial development in areas subject to natural disasters. These trends increase the probability of catastrophic future disasters and the potential for mass human exposure to hazardous materials released during disasters. This systematic review summarizes direct and indirect disaster-associated releases, as well as environmental contamination and adverse human health effects that have resulted from natural disaster-related hazmat incidents. Thorough examination of historic disaster-related hazmat releases can be used to identify future threats and improve mitigation and prevention efforts. ᮊ

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“…However, we separate these into sub-incidents as we record 26 separate distances where the fatality locations could be identified from the literature (e.g. Eisele et al 1981). To average the distances in such an incident would not be appropriate, therefore individual distances are recorded and can be counted in multiple distance bins in analysis.…”

Section: Data Limitations and Uncertaintiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volcanic fatalities database: analysis of volcanic threat with distance and victim classification

et al. 2017

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Volcanoes can produce far-reaching hazards that extend distances of tens or hundreds of kilometres in large eruptions, or in certain conditions for smaller eruptions. About a tenth of the world's population lives within the potential footprint of volcanic hazards and lives are regularly lost through volcanic activity: volcanic fatalities were recorded in 18 of the last 20 years. This paper identifies the distance and distribution of fatalities around volcanoes and the activities of the victims at the time of impact, sourced from an extensive search of academic and grey literature, including media and official reports. We update and expand a volcano fatality database to include all data from 1500 AD to 2017. This database contains 635 records of 278,368 fatalities. Each record contains information on the number of fatalities, fatal cause, incident date and the fatality location in terms of distance from the volcano. Distance data were previously available in just 5% of fatal incidents: these data have been significantly increased to 72% (456/635) of fatal incidents, with fatalities recorded from inside the crater to more than 100 km from the summit. Local residents are the most frequently killed, but tourists, volcanologists and members of the media are also identified as common victims. These latter groups and residents of small islands dominate the proximal fatality record up to 5 km from the volcano. Though normally accounting for small numbers of fatalities, ballistics are the most common cause of fatal incidents at this distance. Pyroclastic density currents are the dominant fatal cause at 5 to 15 km. Lahars, tsunami and tephra dominate the record after about 15 km. The new location data are used to characterise volcanic threat with distance, as a function of eruption size and hazard type, and to understand how certain activities increase exposure and the likelihood of death. These findings support assessment of volcanic threat, population exposure and vulnerabilities related to occupation or activity.

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Deaths during the May 18, 1980, Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Cited by 39 publications

References 2 publications

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to pyroclastic density currents in explosive eruptions

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to pyroclastic density currents in explosive eruptions

Natural and technologic hazardous material releases during and after natural disasters: a review

Volcanic fatalities database: analysis of volcanic threat with distance and victim classification

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