On Shaky Ground: How to Live with the Risk of Natural Disasters

(Recently, there was a small eruption of Volcán Chaparrastique.)

Luckily I haven't experienced a bad volcano eruption, but we did have a pretty scary earthquake a couple months ago. I remember waking up in the middle of the night, getting out of bed and starting to walk towards my kitchen. Out of nowhere, the house started violently shaking. I grabbed hold of the wall and dashed outside, but the shaking stopped right as I got outside. This earthquake woke up the entire city, reminding everyone of the danger that more severe earthquakes can bring.

With such big differences in elevation in a small country, we also have a risk of landslides. In 2001, El Salvador experienced one of its worst earthquakes, causing a landslide in Santa Tecla that covered nearly 500 houses in debris, killing nearly everyone that was covered.

How have people been adapting to this environment?:

We can't really do anything to prepare ourselves for giant volcano eruptions. Furthermore, really bad eruptions are infrequent, since big volcanoes are quiet for decades or even centuries in between eruptions, so I don't see a point in fearing an eruption that probably won't happen in my lifetime. I'm more likely to get hurt in a car accident!

Alternatively, we can do a lot to prepare ourselves for earthquakes. You'll usually see signs here that say "meeting point", which are areas to which you should run if there's an earthquake. There are some pretty funny photos of people running out of their houses in just a towel or underwear. When something is happening, you sometimes don't have a chance to worry what you look like! Outside of evacuation plans, houses and buildings are now being designed to be earthquake-resistant.

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