TY  - JOUR
A1  - Iturrizaga, Lasafam
T1  - Historical beacon fire lines as early warning systems for glacier lake outbursts in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram Mountains
JF  - Natural hazards : journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards
N2  - The paper presents a historical long-distance communication system based on beacon fires in one of the most dynamic and rugged mountain ranges of the world, the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalayas. It was deployed as an early warning system for glacial lake outburst floods, which caused devastating impacts on settlement zones and infrastructure until the middle of the twentieth century. The study revealed that the beacon fire systems were operated in distinct valleys spread over the entire Hindu Kush-Karakoram Region. The remarkable fact is the establishment of fire posts in highly difficult accessible mountain environments with communication distances of several hundred kilometres for individual beacon lines. The warning system was a cooperative natural hazard management, which was operated even across distinct ethnic groups. Distant societies, formerly perceived as isolated villages by physical barriers of the high mountain relief, were in historical times connected not only by challenging trade routes but also by a fast working optical communication system. The findings are discussed in the context of a future sustainable natural hazard management.
KW  - Beacon fire
KW  - Early warning system
KW  - Glacial lake outbursts
KW  - Local knowledge
KW  - Sustainable natural hazard management
KW  - Hindu Kush-Karakoram
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-019-03705-1
SN  - 0921-030X
SN  - 1573-0840
VL  - 99
IS  - 1
SP  - 39
EP  - 70
PB  - Springer
CY  - New York
ER  -