Referring to volcanoes, explain three reasons why fewer deaths are caused by this hazard than in the past. (6 marks)

Firstly, improved monitoring of volcanoes can reduce the death toll of an eruption by leading to enhanced predictions of hazard events and thus providing a longer period for the evacuation of vulnerable inhabitants of the local area. For example, the death toll of zero of Mount Sinabung's 2019 eruption is attributed to the Mount Sinubung observatory's early prediction of the risk. Moreover, a higher level of education can lead to fewer deaths caused by volcanic hazard events. This is as a greater level of education of the hazard can result in a higher hazard-awareness among the local population and hence mean a greater likelihood of evacuation. Consequently, the hazard risk vulnerability of the local population will fall and the resulting death toll will too. Finally, emergency kits and high community preparedness can equate in a lower death toll from a volcanic event. In Iceland, emergency kits are given out by the government, including gas masks, which were used to prevent suffocation from the ash released by Eyjafjallajökull in 2010.