Contributions from geologists with experience of the practical problems of geo-disasters in developing countries, focussing on how to predict geohazards and reduce their effects. Based on papers from an AGID meeting.
Part 1 Volcanic hazards: volcano risk mitigation through training, J.L. Anderson and R.W. Decker; Volunteer Observers Program - a tool for monitoring volcanic and seismic events in the Philippines, Peria J. Delos Reyes; volcanic hazards in Colombia and Indonesia - lahars and related phenomena, H. Th. Verstappen; the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruption - scientific, social and governmental response and interaction before the event, M.L. Hall; lahars of Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador - hazard and risk evaluation, Patricia A. Mothes; seismic monitoring of Lake Nyos, Cameroon, following the gas release disaster of August 1985, Alice B. Walker et al. Part 2 Earthquake hazards: long-term seismic hazards in the eastern Mediterranean region, N.M. Ambraseys; the ROA Eartquake Hazard Atlas project - recent work from the Middle East, M.R. Degg; some implications of the 1985 Mexican earthquake for hazard assessment, M.R. Degg. Part 3 Landslide hazards: landslide hazard assessment in the context of development, D.K.C. Jones; the identification and mitigation of glacier-related hazards - examples from the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, J.M. Reynolds. Part 4 The "quiet" hazards: sea-level changes in China, past and future - their impact and countermeasures, Wang Sijing and Zhao Xitao; rising groundwater - a problem of development in some urban areas of the Middle East, D.J. George; factors affecting losses of soil and agricultural land in tropical countries, S. Nortcliff and P.J. Gregory; reduction of biodiversity - the ultimate disaster?, W.S. Fyfe.