'The hazards presented by volcanic and seismic events have the greatest impact on the world’s poorest people'. To what extent do you agree with this view?
Firstly I believe that this statement is true but only to a partial extent. Hazards presented by tectonic activity can be managed and controlled so their impacts are lessened and even not felt. However such management involves planning, prediction and action, all of which may cost considerable amounts of money, unavailable to the poorest people.
For example, ever since its primary eruption in 1968 Mount Etna has been constantly erupting every year. Though these eruptions are not always violent sometime volcanic bombs can be fired from the composite volcano and since its eruption in 1968 it has killed around 77 people, most of these unwitting tourists who did not take enough care. However due to the volcano being located in the fairly rich area of Sicily the impacts of its hazards have been managed and fairly efficiently. For example, explosives were first used to relocate the andesitic lava flows away from settlements, protecting people’s housing and property. More recently, Sicily has had the funds to construct artificial lava tunnels to conveniently drain the lava away when Etna erupts.
Moreover Sicily has managed to accurately predict the size and frequency of the eruptions of Etna by using remote sensors which measure the bulge of the volcano, a tell tale sign of the imminent eruption. In combination to this, they sample the gas concentration of the gas released by Etna, using this to predict when an eruption will occur and how large it will be. This allows the Sicilian government to take appropriate action whether that is closing off the site to tourists or evacuating the surrounding areas. This will reduce the impact of the volcano on the surrounding area but such schemes cost money for machinery and