Since the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruption that killed over 23,000 people in Armero, Colombia, risk communication has become central to volcanic crisis management. Despite the development of effective tools and programmes for volcanic risk communication, considerable challenges remain.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Voight, B. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 42, 151–188 (1990).
The volcano that changed the course of disaster risk management. UNDRR https://www.undrr.org/news/volcano-changed-course-disaster-risk-management (2015).
Hall, M. L. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 42, 101–115 (1990).
Fearnley, C., Winson, A. E. G., Pallister, J. & Tilling, R. in Observing the Volcano World: Volcano Crisis Communication (eds Fearnley, C. J. et al.) 3–21 (Springer, 2017).
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) & UCLouvain. EM DAT: The International Disaster Database. www.emdat.be (2025).
Garcia, C. & Fearnley, C. J. Environ. Hazards 11, 123–137 (2012).
Newhall, C. & Solidum, R. U. in Observing the Volcano World: Volcano Crisis Communication (eds Fearnley, C. J. et al.) 189–203 (Springer, 2018).
Lindsay, J. M. et al. J. Appl. Volcanol. 12, 8 (2023).
Mani, L., Edwards, S., Joseph, E., Juman, A. & Thomas, T. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 539, 345–363 (2024).
Mafuko Nyandwi, B., Kervyn, M., Habiyaremye, F. M., Kervyn, F. & Michellier, C. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 23, 933–953 (2023).
Stovall, W. K. et al. Front. Commun. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.976041 (2023).
Donovan, A., Borie, M. & Blackburn, S. Changing the paradigm for risk communication: integrating sciences to understand cultures. Contributing paper to the GAR 2019. https://www.undrr.org/publication/changing-paradigm-risk-communication-integrating-sciences-understand-cultures (2019).
Calvache Velasco, M. L. et al. in Forecasting and Planning for Volcanic Hazards, Risks, and Disasters Vol. 2 (ed. Papale, P.) 585–615 (Elsevier, 2021).
Naismith, A. K. et al. J. Appl. Volcanol. 13, 3 (2024).
Joseph, E. P. et al. Nat. Commun. 13, 4129 (2022).
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank J. Lowenstern and M. Poland from the U.S. Geological Survey for their comments which helped to strengthen the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
L.M. conceptualized and led the drafting of the manuscript. J.B., A.D., R.R., S.B., C.F., W.S. and B.M.N. helped to conceptualize the piece and helped to draft and edit the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mani, L., Barclay, J., Fearnley, C. et al. Lessons from 40 years of communicating volcanic risk during crises. Nat. Geosci. 18, 1077–1080 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01832-y
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01832-y