R+-+Living+with+Hazards

__**Why live near volcanoes? **__

Advantages  Disadvantages  __**VERY IMPORTANT!!!!**__
 * Fertile soil when the lava weathers (breaks down)
 * Tourist attractions, e.g. trips to the rim of the crater, hotel accomomdation, souvenir shops
 * Minerals, e.g. sulphur, borax, pumice
 * Lava flows build new land, e.g. Iceland, Hawaii
 * Hot Springs for bathing, heating
 * Heat used to generate electricity
 * Explosions and eruptions leading to:
 * dangerous gases
 * loss of life
 * loss of homes, animals and crops
 * disease and fires
 * avalanches, mudflows and floods
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">loss of wildlife, trees and plants

The impact of tectonic activity (earthquakes and volcanoes) is often much more severe in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDC) than in More Economically Developed Countires (MEDC).

Many LEDCs cannot afford early warning systems or evacuation plans. Housing is often overcrowded and poorly constructed so that it collapses or catches fire easily. Communications are frequently poor so that emergency services take a long time to reach a disaster area.

An earthquake or volcano usually has less impact in the countryside than in towns and cities, where there are higher population densities. The urban infrastructure means there is very muc more damage to property, industry and services. Collapsed power lines and fractured gas mains add to the casualties and increase the chance of fires and explosions. Disease may also spread more quickly in more populated areas.