Guatemala’s Fuego volcano: people were not educated about the dangers of the pyroclastic flows
Professor Raymond Cas, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment,
Contact details: +61 400 967 610 or Raymond.Cas@monash.edu
The current eruption was not a surprise but the magnitude and suddenness of it appears to have caught Guatmela’s authorities by surprise.
The eruption resulted from the explosive destruction of a lava flow or dome complex erupting from the vent. The explosively ejected lava blocks shattered on impact around the vent and transformed into very hot and very fast moving pyroclastic flows of gas, lava blocks and ash, called block and ash flows, which quickly focused flow into narrow and steep river valleys.
Several villages built on the lower slopes of the volcano and in these valleys, which had not been evacuated, were buried by the deposits of these very hot pyroclastic flows. Compounding the problem, there was heavy rainfall at the time of the eruption, and so the deposits of the pyroclastic flows were remobilised into mudflows (“lahars”) of water and volcanic ash, which also flowed down those valleys. Hundreds of people may have been killed by both phenomena.
Footage of the eruption indicates that people were not educated about the dangers, standing in the path of the pyroclastic flows, watching them, photographing them, but unaware of their speed, heat and obvious dangers. Further significant eruptions are possible.”
Forecasting the flu: Why the Influenza virus is so unpredictable.
Associate Professor Allen Cheng, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Contact details: +61 3 9903 0325 or Allen.Cheng@monash.edu
Why the big fish should get away: throwing back the small fish is being challenged in a new paper about fish size and reproductive capacity
Professor Dustin Marshall, Monash Centre for Geometric Biology
Contact details: +61 3 9903 4840 or Dustin.Marshall@monash.edu
Men’s Health Week (11 – 17 June):
Normalising the discussion of men’s mental health
Dr Ian Munro, Senior Lecturer, Mental Health Lead
Contact details: +61 417 056 152 or Ian.Munro@monash.edu
All aspects of male reproductive health disorders and their link to chronic disease
Professor Rob McLachlan, Director, Andrology Australia
Contact details: +61 419 007 844 or Rob.McLachlan@princehenrys.org
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