MOUNT RUAPEHU 警报通知解决方案在火山边缘拯救生命

新西兰的鲁阿佩胡火山是世界上最活跃的火山。大约每 50 年发生一次大喷发，自 1945 年以来有 60 次或更多次小喷发。为了增加这种危险情况，火山口在两次喷发之间周期性地充满水，导致火山口壁倒塌并将洪水和泥浆从山上释放到有人居住的地方领域。 1953 年圣诞节前夕，一场名为 lahar 的洪水将一列通宵列车冲下一座桥，导致 153 人丧生。

1995 年和 1996 年的喷发形成了一个脆弱的火山口坝，肯定会在某个时候破裂。因此，政府当局决定寻求一种技术解决方案，以避免过去导致生命损失的那种灾难。鲁阿佩胡山警报与总部位于奥克兰的工业接口公司、WIN-911 解决方案提供商和其他公司合作，开发了东部鲁阿佩胡火山喷发警报和警告系统，或 ERLAWS。 ERLAWS 由三个站点组成，其中有各种地震检波器和水位传感器。这些地点包括火山湖、新西兰高山俱乐部小屋和靠近 Tukino 滑雪场。 ERLAWS 被编程为自动警告洪水并激活屏障臂以关闭洪水路径中的道路和桥梁。 WIN-911 警报通知软件提醒警察、议会工作人员、交通当局和科学家避免灾难。当地居民甚至可以直接注册接收来自 WIN-911 的警报。包括所有设备、软件、人工和工程在内的警告系统成本约为 375,000 美元。

• On March 18, 2007, a tephra dam collapsed, causing a “medium” sized lahar which flowed down the mountain and into the Whangaehu River. The ERLAWS system activated at 10:47am and worked exactly as planned. Scientists estimate that 1.29 million cubic meters of sulphur and water went down the Whangaehu Valley. Police and Civil Defense workers immediately closed roads around the southern side of the mountain, where the flood was heading and evacuated nearby residents. Thanks to the fast work by local authorities, notified by ERLAWS, there were no reports of injuries. This lahar was at least 50% larger than the 1953 lahar that caused the Tangawai disaster. New Zealand’s Civil Defence Minister Rick Barker said, “We put trust and faith in the engineers and the engineering solutions, and it appears that trust has been well placed. The warning systems worked as designed … the alerts went to the rest of the community and people adopted the appropriate procedures.” Chris Carter, New Zealand’s Minister of Conservation added, “The early warning response system that this government provided worked exactly as planned. The management system for the Mount Ruapehu lahar is the international best practice for this type of natural event.”