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Comment by taneq | Hacker News Reader

I feel a bit the same about other similar hazards. Cities built on flood plains that regularly get washed away. Cities built on volcanic hotspots with regular serious earthquakes. Cities, as you say, in the shadow of active volcanoes. But people always seem to think "it won't happen again."

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I live in the Canadian city of Winnipeg which is built upon the intersection of two large rivers and their flood plains.

We have the Red River Floodway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Floodway) which has been quite successful, however, we're getting more floodwater every year and now we sometimes face severe flooding on the Assiniboine River.

This all used to be at the bottom of a giant lake and probably will go back to that at some point, but we've done a pretty good job at preventing billions in losses.

The airport in Kona on Hawaii is built on a lava flow from Hualalai’s last major eruption about 200 years ago. Hualalai is still considered an active volcano, too. Maybe they’ve got a force field they haven’t told anyone about.

Hawaii has fairly liquid lava, which means that the dissolved gas can escape safely and not build up pressure for a big sudden explosion. Accordingly, while the airport may not be safe, the people should be since they can move away from any incoming lava in time. The volcanoes with more viscous lava (such as Vesuvius) are much more dangerous in comparison.

Interesting, thanks for the info.

Also reminds me of this thing I saw in satellite maps near Mt. Shasta. Train track cutting right through a lava flow, and a highway (that might serve as a valuable escape route) cutting right next to it. Seriously? Are humans that stupid? The very FIRST thing I see when I look at this satellite map is "oh shit lava how about we stay the hell away from it"

https://i.imgur.com/U6y0Q4O.jpg

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