Abstract
The systematic use of risk concepts in dealing with natural hazards has appeared in science and practice only in recent decades. However, underlying principles and ideas have guided people, particularly those living in mountainous areas, for a very long time. The essential insight is probably that living in the mountains also means living with natural hazard risks. It is certainly possible to reduce these risks, but they can never be erased. In this context, early warning systems (EWS), or multihazard early warning systems (MHEWS), have proven to be a lifeline for communities in mountainous and volcanic areas. As a case study, the EWS of the Fuego Volcano in Guatemala was studied to identify strengths and main weaknesses within its different components and the overall structure. Also, this research considered a resilience engineering approach to improve the system’s robustness, the necessary redundancy of components to increase reliability, resourcefulness, and the speed of response.