People experience disasters very differently. Conflicts about a
"correct" interpretation of the risks might arise. The side-by-side of
different truths lead to people seeing mismanagement and disinformation.
The volcanic crisis of El Hierro shows how rivalling interpretations
amongst affected islanders, the media, sciences, and disaster response
institutions cause great social tensions and scepticism towards
scientific information. Thus, to fully understand disaster risk, the
focus must shift to the rifts between established convictions and the
individuals' creativity to overcome them, taking into account their
embeddedness in various fields of practice, each with their own
rationales and ruptures.