This paper presents an assessment of the avalanche hazard potential and the resulting risks on mountain roads for a 38.7-km-long section of road no 76 (Siglufjarðarvegur) in northern Iceland following a regional scale approach developed in the Alps. The assessment of the individual avalanche...

At all times natural hazards like torrents or avalanches pose a threat to settlements and infrastructures in the Austrian Alps. Since 1950 more than 1,600 persons have been killed by avalanches in Austria, which is on average approximately 30 fatalities per year. In particular, the winter...

In the fjords of north-western Iceland, snow-avalanche and debris-flow hazards threaten 65% of the inhabitants. In this area, both historical and geomorphological evidences clearly demonstrate the recurrent danger from the steep slopes. Hazard vulnerability has increased during the last century,...

Situated over the Himalayan tectonic zone, Kathmandu Valley as a lake in geological past has a long history of destructive earthquakes. In recent years, the earthquake risk of the valley has significantly increased due mainly to uncontrolled development, poor construction practices with no...

Japan suffers many sediment-related disasters due to intense rainfall and other geographical and meteorological features. This paper aims to clarify the potential role and challenges of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a hazard management tool of sediment-related disaster, through...

Avalanche impacts in Canada, including fatalities, are summarized for residential and public areas, as well as roads, ski areas, backcountry recreation, and resource industries. Methods for managing avalanche hazard, which include defence structures, zoning, forecasting and explosive control,...

Standards are an effective means for managing hazardous technologies only if three conditions are satisfied: (a) setting general standards is preferable to case-by-case decision making; (b) some general safety philosophy, balancing risk and other factors, can be justified on normative grounds;...

Hazard management of the risks of human injury and death related to the automobile are described and exemplified by the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. The study presents the Volvo units engaged in accident hazard management and their roles in the elaborate system of feedbacks (information,...

Many parts of our planet are exposed to natural disasters such as snow avalanches, floods and earthquakes. Detailed knowledge on these natural disasters is crucial for human safety. On December 25–26, 1992, two avalanches occurred at Kayaarkası-Kastamonu in northern Turkey. The first...

An innovative methodology to perform avalanche hazard mapping over large undocumented areas is herewith presented and discussed. The method combines GIS tools, computational routines, and statistical analysis in order to provide a “semi-automatic” definition of areas potentially affected by...