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In the Shadow of El Chichon: An Overview of the Medical Impact of the 28 March to 4 April 1982 Eruptions of the Mexican Volcano

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

James M. Nania ,
Manuel Rodriguez Garcia ,
John S. Fruchter ,
K.B. Olsen  and
Peter R. Hooper
James M. Nania*
Affiliation:
Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Spokane, Wash., USA
Manuel Rodriguez Garcia
Affiliation:
La Clinica Hospital Regional, “Dr. Daniel Gurria Urgell,” Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
John S. Fruchter
Affiliation:
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Wash., USA
K.B. Olsen
Affiliation:
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Wash., USA
Peter R. Hooper
Affiliation:
Washington State University, Department of Geology, Pullman, Wash., USA
*
Medical Program Director, Spokane County Emergency Medical Services, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., Room 008, Spokane, WA 99201-3333
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Extract

On 28 March 1982, El Chichon, a volcanic peak located in southern Mexico, began an eruptive phase of activity. Four major eruptions occurred within the next eight days, culminating in a cataclysmic eruption on 4 April. When the dust had settled, an estimated 200 million tons of ash blanketed more than 200 square kilometers of southern Mexico and neighboring Central American countries. Forty thousand villagers were left homeless and several thousand people may have lost their lives. Fifty thousand head of cattle were destroyed outright with many more succumbing to lack of water and pasture. Millions of hectares of crops were destroyed (Figure 1).

Keywords

air fallen tephraash cytotoxicitydisaster responsepyroclastic flowsrefugeesvolcanic ashvolcanic eruption
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , March 1994 , pp. 58 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1994

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