| Whereas the assessment of seismic and industrial hazard is
carried out basically by the simulation of relevant scenarios,
volcano risk is mainly tackled by forecasting dangerous events.
The reason for this difference resides in the nature of volcanic
eruptions: (i) The impact of volcanic phenomena is often so
violent that countermeasures appear little effective, (ii) it
has been demonstrated, on the other hand, that volcanic eruptions
often show distinct precursor phenomena which allow to warn
the population at risk and eventually evacuate the zones close
to the volcano.
Through participation in various research projects in collaboration
with national research institutes and in the framework of
European Union research projects Mestor could gain a considerable
experience concerning the processing and interpretation of
geophysical data for purposes of forecasting potentially dangerous
events.
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