What are some things people can do to protect themselves in an eruption of a volcano?

Answer 1

Get away from it. Fast. Very far, very fast.

I'm not joking. Lava can melt through most man made substances, including (given time) concrete and brick. All wood will burn. All metals and plastics will melt.

The gases released by lava will turn lakes into acid strong enough to melt metal boats. The clouds of smoke released are toxic (poisonous) enough to kill even if they weren't hot enough to char bone. Some of such clouds can rush down mountain sides like avalanches, enveloping locations before people have a chance to escape. (This is part of what happened at Pompei.)

In the US building codes generally do not allow people to live too near to volcanoes that are known to erupt every now and then. The problem are volcanoes that have not erupted in over a century. In some instances scientists do not know when or even if such a volcano will erupt again - and so small towns have developed around or near such. It is uncommon, but it does happen. The movie Dante's Peak gave a good example of a worst case scenario for such a town. Perhaps once in the next hundred or so years such a situation will actually happen. So it is very unlikely such will happen, but there is a small chance.

If you yourself live near a volcano, don't worry. However, if your town states their is a need to evacuate, it would be best to do so - even if the chance of eruption is very small. Better safe than sorry.

Answer 2

keep away when it is erupting or going to erupt :]

Answer 3

The best thing to do is evacuate. Most lava flows move fairly slowly.

Answer 4

run!

Answer 5

Evacuate