News and Features

Handbook
The 2009 Hazard and Disaster Handbook (PDF, 7.1 MB) available now!

L'Aquila Earthquake
(7 Apr) Rescuers searched through the night for survivors of an earthquake that killed more than 130 people in central Italy early on Monday and left thousands of homeless huddled in tent camps and rough shelters. Rain complicated the task of firemen and emergency workers combing the rubble in the hope of plucking people alive from collapsed houses in the medieval mountain city of L'Aquila and nearby villages, some almost entirely destroyed. Read more >>

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Hazard and Disaster Management–
The Department of Geological Sciences invites applications for the continuing (tenured) position of Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Hazard and Disaster Management. Closing date is the 30 April 2009.

Undersea Volcano near Tonga
(19 Mar) An undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga – shooting smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the sky – is to be studied by scientists. Officials said the eruption did not pose any danger to islanders at this stage, and there have been no reports of fish or other animals being affected. Read more >>

The 2008 IAEM Academic Recogntion Award goes to Professor Jim Cole – This award recognizes an academic leader or institution that has made a significant contribution to the formal education of students pursuing a career in emergency management or through research and development of paradigms or standards that have helped shape the broader field of emergency and disaster management.

Australian Bush Fires (23 Feb)
Australians had gone to bed on Saturday night knowing that dozens of fires raged across southern Victoria. They knew, too, that at least a dozen lives had been lost. But, like the authorities, they had no idea of the scale of the disaster that had been unfolding over the previous few hours. Fueled by 115 F degree (46 C) heat and powerful northerly winds, the fires were laying waste to houses, schools, whole towns. Read more >>

2008 Chaiten eruption – Part 2
(23 Feb) Members and research affiliates of the NHRC, Tom Wilson (University of Canterbury), Graham Leonard (GNS Science), Carol Stewart, and David Dewar, travelled to northern Patagonia to assess the impacts from the on-going eruption of Chaiten volcano (Chile) during January and February 2009. Read more >>

Chile orders total evacuation as Chaiten Volcano eruption strengthens
(12 May 08) While several thousand residents had already fled the small town of Chaiten in Chile the remaining townspeople were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as the volcano that has threatened the town for the past five days grew more ominous. Read more >>