Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 1–20, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-1-2020 © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. From examination of natural events to a proposal for risk mitigation of lahars by a cellular-automata methodology: a case study for Vascún valley, Ecuador Valeria Lupiano1,2, Francesco Chidichimo3, Guillermo Machado4, Paolo Catelan3,5, Lorena Molina4, Claudia R. Calidonna6, Salvatore Straface3, Gino M. Crisci2, and Salvatore Di Gregorio6,7 1IRPI – CNR, Via Cavour 6, 87030 Rende, CS, Italy 2Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, Arcavacata, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy 3Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Calabria, Arcavacata, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy 4Faculty of Engineering, National University of Chimborazo, Riobamba, Ecuador 5CEAA – Centro de Investigación de Energías Alternativas y Ambiente, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Chimborazo, Riobamba, Ecuador 6ISAC – CNR, Zona Industriale, 88046 Lamezia Terme, CZ, Italy 7Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Calabria, Arcavacata, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy Correspondence: Francesco Chidichimo (
[email protected]) Received: 30 December 2018 – Discussion started: 28 January 2019 Revised: 24 October 2019 – Accepted: 12 November 2019 – Published: 2 January 2020 Abstract. Lahars are erosive floods, mixtures of water and more rainfall, the anticipation of lahar detachment, avoiding pyroclastic detritus, known for being the biggest environ- simultaneous and dangerous confluence with other lahars. mental disaster and causing a large number of fatalities in volcanic areas. Safety measures have been recently adopted in the threatened territories by constructing retaining dams and embankments in key positions.