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The abnormal activity of the Pichincha volcano, noted over period of several weeks, led to the announcement on October 1, 1998, of the yellow alert in Quito, capital of Ecuador, a city of 1.5 million inhabitants situated at the foot of the volcano. This rapid decision was based on the scientific criteria used by the Instituto geofisico of Quito, establishing several levels of alert. The IG was declared the sole scientific authority on the subject situations, The Mayor immediately took the matter in hand and broke new ground by advocating the principle that crisis situations must be managed at the municipal level. The political and historical background of the crisis shows that risk management can represent an opportunity and a challenge for authorities to assert their legitimacy. Several months into the crisis, additional problems arose, as a result of the difficulty of managing this type of crisis over a long period of time. (Résumé d'auteur)