Human vulnerability in volcanic environments: the case of Furnas, São Miguel, Azores

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Abstract

The need to examine the vulnerability of people to natural hazards, in addition to the long-established requirement to study extreme events of nature, is being increasingly recognised within disaster research. Following a discussion of the nature of human vulnerability, we propose a framework for its analysis within the context of volcanic activity and we exemplify our approach by a detailed study of Furnas, a village located at the centre of a volcano with the same name on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. The methods used included in-depth interviews with permanent residents (n=50), analysis of census records and an examination of the socio-economic history of the town. The vulnerability of an individual to volcanic hazards involves a complex interaction of elements which, in addition to the usual factors taken into account in programmes of hazard reduction (e.g., the nature of the physical threat, location and economic situation), also comprises his or her social context and a number of physiological and psychological considerations. It is argued, further, that both generally and in the case of Furnas, the root causes of vulnerability lie in the history and development of society. Individual decision making is fundamental but takes place within and cannot be separated from this social context. Vulnerability analysis allows the identification of points where intervention may be successful in reducing the likelihood of suffering in a society. It avoids the problem of people's unexpected reactions to invention leading to a changing or even increasing level of vulnerability, by studying society rather than just one aspect of volcanic hazard in isolation.

Introduction

Natural disasters are never solely acts of nature (Hewitt, 1997). They are the result of, often extreme, natural events interacting with a society which, at some level, is unable to cope. The term vulnerability is being used increasingly to describe this situation. Vulnerability may be defined as a combination of factors that determine the extent to which a person's life, livelihood or general well-being is threatened by an extreme event of nature (Blaikie et al., 1994). Vulnerability is not static but dynamic, related to both past and present socio-economic processes and individual decision making. Davis (1978)developed the pressure and release model (PAR), to illustrate the ways in which a disaster may be seen as an interaction between two opposing forces. On one side are pressures creating human vulnerability and on the other the physical hazard. The PAR model illustrates the chain of factors that lead to vulnerability. These factors comprise root causes, which are translated by dynamic pressures into unsafe conditions. Root causes are normally related to economic, demographic and political processes. Dynamic pressures may include population growth; war; deforestation; foreign debt and possibly global environmental change. Unsafe conditions are “specific forms in which the vulnerability of a population is expressed in time and space in conjunction with a hazard” (Blaikie et al., 1994, pp. 25). It can be argued that while structures are unsafe, only people are vulnerable. A building that is likely to collapse during a seismic event is an unsafe condition, but it is the inhabitants who are vulnerable. This distinction is important, because vulnerability has often been defined narrowly, with UNDRO (1991)stating that vulnerability is a measure of the intrinsic susceptibility of structures to potentially damaging natural phenomena. By defining vulnerability purely in terms of structures, the effects felt by individuals and communities are not assessed adequately. It is a community's dependency on aspects of their environment (e.g., buildings, crops, water supplies, markets) which determines the suffering caused by their collapse.

The hazard event may influence the process of developing vulnerability. Chambers (1983)describes, as the ratchet effect, the process of positive feedback when people are affected by a number of disasters closely spread in time. Barakat and Ellis (1995), working on wars, represented this as a downward spiral — with each new event the group becomes more vulnerable to the next. Blaikie et al. (1994)proposed a dynamic framework for analysing vulnerability without artificially separating hazards from the social system. This they termed the access model, defining access as, “the ability of an individual, family, group, class, or community to use resources which are directly required to secure a livelihood” (Blaikie et al., 1994, pp. 48). Limited access to resources and an absence of other compensatory factors will lead to increasing vulnerability.

An important aspect of vulnerability is the extent to which an individual, group or community can cope with physical extremes. Anderson and Woodrow (1989)refer to the physical and non-physical factors that allow people to cope as capacity. Capacity refers to physical factors such as food storage, emergency shelter and aid and non-physical factors such as support from social groups, skills and knowledge. Davis and Bellers (1995)have argued that elements that make an individual vulnerable may also provide capacities which allow him or her to cope. An old person might be physically frail, making them vulnerable, but may also have experienced previous disasters and, therefore, have a greater knowledge of what to do. It is often accepted implicitly by organisations providing aid in the aftermath of disasters, that individuals lose their capacity to cope (Ellis, 1996). Though in many disasters physical assets may be lost, the non-physical elements that allow coping continue to be available even under the most exacting conditions (Harrell-Bond, 1986). By ignoring these indigenous mechanisms of coping, organisations providing aid have often missed opportunities to provide an effective service and may have hindered the long-term recovery of a region.

It has been argued that vulnerability analysis is of limited value in areas of volcanic hazard (Blaikie et al., 1994). It is posited that, “volcanic eruptions endanger any person living within the high-risk zone, whether poor or rich, landowner or land-less farm labourer, man or woman, old or young, member of ethnic minority or majority” (Blaikie et al., 1994, pp. 184). This statement ignores, however, not only a number of important characteristics of volcanic activity, but also human psychology and the long-term consequences of an eruption. Many people affected by volcanic eruptions will not be within the area of total destruction. These may include, inter alia, coastal settlements at risk from tsunamis, areas affected by pyroclastic fall, villages influenced by pre-eruptive seismic activity. Some individuals and groups are, moreover, more vulnerable to volcanic hazards than others. Psychological factors, such as knowledge or emotional attachment to place, can have a significant influence on behaviour. Differences in knowledge may, for example, affect health related behaviour before or after an eruption (e.g., CO2 seepage, fluoride in drinking water and high levels of ash in the air). During eruptions different areas will be affected by differing combinations of hazards, people living in disparate locations will also face a variety of volcanic hazards. The ability to cope, during a volcanic crisis and recover following it, will be determined by factors such as access to resources, social networks, and physiological stamina. These factors will in turn differentiate between individuals. Vulnerability is, thus, very applicable to volcanic hazards.

This paper explores vulnerability using the village of Furnas, on the island of São Miguel in the Azores, as an example. It will outline an approach to vulnerability analysis, identify areas of vulnerability and discuss the nature of vulnerability within them.

Section snippets

Vulnerability analysis: a framework

Although vulnerability analysis stands out against the traditional view, that disasters are determined mainly by the characteristics of an extreme event of nature (Maskrey, 1989), the identification and detailed study of such events is clearly still of great importance. In the case of volcanic hazards this is particularly the case, because the nature of eruptions may vary greatly and be highly concentrated in some areas, whilst others may hardly be affected at all.

Vulnerability is identified

Methodology

In order to study vulnerability within the village of Furnas, in-depth interviews (n=50) were carried out with residents. Individuals with a special understanding of Furnas were also contacted and secondary sources of data and information about the village's social and economic history were examined. A systematic sample of residents was drawn up from which 50 interviews were achieved with a response rate of 97%. It was believed effectively to approximate a random sample. The interview covered 5

Volcanic hazards at furnas

Volcanic hazard at Furnas is dealt with at length in other papers in this volume (Baxter et al., 1999; Cole et al., 1999; Guest et al., 1999) but briefly Furnas volcano is the most easterly of the three trachytic active central volcanoes on the island of São Miguel, (Zbyszewski, 1961, Booth et al., 1978, Moore, 1990, Moore, 1991a, Moore, 1991b) the others are Sete Cidades and Fogo (also known as Água de Pau). The village of Furnas is situated within the caldera of Furnas volcano (Fig. 2). Most

Vulnerability during periods of inactivity

Both geothermal and geophysical processes threaten the health of the residents of Furnas during periods of volcanic inactivity (Baxter et al., 1999-this issue). Geothermal and geophysical activity is also an important economic resource, Furnas being an important health spa with many tourists visiting the thermal springs and solfatara. The threat from CO2 exists most acutely if an individual enters a low enclosed area (e.g., a pit, a cellar or hollow in the ground), or breathes assuming a

Vulnerability during periods of activity

During eruptions the health of all people resident in Furnas will be threatened by the volcanic activity. Some people, including second home owners and those that only work in Furnas will suffer some economic losses while for others, whose sole home and livelihoods are in Furnas, the effect will be devastating.

Development of vulnerability

Vulnerability is principally a function of the social, environmental and economic context within which an individual or group exists. The siting of a village within the Furnas caldera is one of the principal elements in the residents' vulnerability. Secondary causes stem from the development of the economy, social structure, culture of the community within its present site and individual psychological processes. These aspects are linked to the settlement and development of the island of São

Conclusions and implications for risk mitigation

The village of Furnas has grown and developed despite volcanic eruptions taking place during its history. Destructive volcanic activity has had only a slight influence on the development of the village, limited to periods of activity and immediately afterwards, while the volcanic landscape created has become an exploitable resource. The economic and social structure of Furnas is typical of the rural towns and villages of the island and its growth has been consistent with its position and

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Angus Duncan, Paul Cole, Peter Baxter and an anonymous reviewer for comments on earlier versions of this paper, and to all members of the CEC Environment, Furnas Laboratory Volcano Project, in particular Rui Coutinho, for their assistance during the course of the research. Christopher Dibben would like to the thank the University of Luton for a research bursary, and both he and David Chester would like to express gratitude to the European Union/European Science

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