Why do some people live in volcanic danger zones?
10 December 2017 - 00:00
Around the world, 750 million people live within 90km of a volcano. Good grief, why?
Some simply don't realise it is active - which was the case for the islanders of Montserrat prior to the devastating 1995 eruptions.
Others are trapped by poverty and poor governance.
Yet many perceive the benefits of living near volcanoes as outweighing the risks. After all, most erupt very rarely - some only every few thousand years or so. In a human lifetime, this is a relatively fleeting threat.The perks, meanwhile, can be many: fertile land, mining resources, geothermal energy and a thriving tourist industry. Furthermore, volcanoes often make for striking landscapes - and so can be unrivalled symbols of place...
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