Volcano chasers move in as locals flee Indonesia's rumbling Merapi

[Fredfredson]

Volcano chasers move in as locals flee Indonesia's rumbling Merapi

by Sebastien Blanc Fri May 12, 12:17 AM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060512...avolcanomerapi

KALIURANG, Indonesia (AFP) - On the steaming slopes of Indonesia's mount Merapi, villagers fleeing their paddy fields pass tourists on the way up. The volcano attracts or repels, it seems, depending on who you ask.

The 2,914-meter (9,560-foot) volcano has been rumbling for more than three weeks and started oozing lava this month, prompting scientists to warn the pressure cooker could soon start spewing molten rock and clouds of gas and dust.

Kaliurang village, some six kilometres (four miles) from the crater, lies just before the restricted area leading to the summit. Numerous residents, especially the very young and the elderly, have already fled the area.

But others, either keen to remain with their crops and livestock, or to cash in on the area's latest tourist attraction, are staying put.

Christian Awuy, 60, the owner of the Vogels hotel built in 1926 by the former Dutch colonists, is rubbing his hands in glee. Since the volcano started showing renewed signs of life, he has taken reservations from Germany, Britain and the United States.

"When the volcano is active, there are foreign tourists. As for Indonesian tourists, they are afraid," he said as he dealt with four French tourists who came to see the lava trails that flow across the mountain's slopes at night.

Awuy employs two guides and prides himself on knowing the safest routes across the volcano, including the area that local authorities say is too dangerous to visit. But even he has his limits and refuses to go within three kilometres of the dome puffing out clouds of steam.

But for some budding vulcanologists, even that is not close enough.

"There are lava hunters. They have satellite positioning systems, boots with special soles and fireproof clothes," says Awuy.

If it erupts, the strato-volcano is likely to start belching nuees ardentes, a geological term for clouds of volcanic gases, ash, and dust reaching temperatures up to 500 degrees Celsius (930 degrees Fahrenheit).

"There has never been an eruption of Merapi without nuees ardentes," says Ratdomo Purbo from the agency assessing volcanic and geological risks in Indonesia.

The possible collapse of the thick dome of lava, which has grown 75 metres in two weeks, is a major danger.

"From May 4 to 9 there was a rapid growth in the dome, with a daily flux of 150,000 cubic metres (5.3 million cubic feet)" of lava, Purbo says.

The catastrophic tsunami of 2004 showed just how poorly prepared Indonesia's authorities were in dealing with such a disaster. The lesson has yet to be learned in the case of Merapi.

"We need masks, because we only have four, as well as protective eyewear," says Suseno from the crisis prevention coordination cell in Yogyakarta.

Merapi rises from the fertile Kedu plain in the centre of the heavily populated island of Java, around 30 kilometres from the university city of Yogyakarta and last had a major eruption in 1994, killing 66 people.

In that eruption, heat clouds known locally as "shaggy goats" careened down the volcano at more than 100 kilometres per hour. Its most deadly eruption occurred in 1930 when 1,369 people were killed.

If the alert level, which has been at "standby" for more than three weeks, is lifted one notch, authorities will be forced to order the mandatory evacuation of some 22,000 residents.

On Thursday, Vice President Yusuf Kalla ordered that about 17,000 residents begin evacuation despite the alert level remaining stable.

Around 200 vehicles have been made available at 18 different sites to help with an exodus, Suseno says.

In the Pakem district on Merapi's slopes, the local public college has been transformed into an emergency shelter. The desks and chairs have been piled up on one side and the tiled floor has been covered in mats, where women now sleep. Children run around barefoot among the Red Cross emergency health kits.

Temtrem shares a classroom with her seven children and 18 others. She left her husband at their home near Kaliurang to take his chances.

"Those who have cattle or grow avocados and bananas have to stay," she said.

Others are tired of waiting for Merapi to return to normal.

Agustinus Suratijo and his wife refuse to abandon their stall in Kaliurang, where they sell rabbit satay.

"Yesterday the local officials told us to go down to the camp and said they would help us. We went down but we came back up last night," he says.

"I'm happier here."

[Fredfredson]

Large pyroclastic flows happening today.

Here is a sat picture of this one:



Villagers forced out as volcano erupts

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/...545263307.html



Force of nature: Mount Merapi volcano releases a huge cloud of hot ashes visible near the city of Muntilan in central Java, yesterday.

Force of nature: Mount Merapi volcano releases a huge cloud of hot ashes visible near the city of Muntilan in central Java, yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
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May 16, 2006

SPEWING deadly clouds of sulphur and ash kilometres down its slopes, Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano has exploded, imperilling nearby villages and accelerating a full-scale evacuation.

The gas clouds, at temperatures of nearly 900 degrees, are fatal to anyone they envelop, presenting a greater threat than Merapi's lava flow, said vulcanologists monitoring yesterday morning's eruption.

Officials were forcibly evacuating locals, although thousands still remained. Many refused to leave their livestock; others claimed that ancient rituals would protect them.

A plume of gas, ash and rock fragments had travelled about five kilometres down Merapi's western slope by the afternoon, towards the town of Magelang and the ancient Buddhist Borobudur temple. Neither these nor the nearby provincial capital of Jogjakarta, with a population of 1 million, was in imminent danger, experts said.

Huge explosions within Merapi's crater continued to spit out the gas clouds. At least 66 people died when the volcano erupted in 1994 and about 1300 died in a 1930 eruption.

One of the volcano monitors, Sugiono, warned that Merapi's glowing dome of lava was poised to collapse and could send more deadly gas clouds streaming down the mountain at hundreds of kilometres an hour.

"Hot clouds keep appearing all the time," Mr Sugiono said. "If you get stuck in them, then you have no chance."

Merapi is one of the most active volcanos in the Pacific's "Ring of Fire", and is located in densely populated central Java. Monitors gave conflicting reports as to whether yesterday's explosion constituted a full-scale eruption or if a larger blast was imminent. Nearly 3000 villagers were moved from Merapi's slopes over the weekend, after the Government raised the eruption alert to its highest level and Vice-President Yusuf Kalla visited the mountain to urge locals to leave.

A co-ordinator of several refugee camps said they were filled past capacity with more than 5000 occupants, but he was trying to persuade more people to move to them.

Some villagers continued to hold age-old ceremonies of offerings to the spirits and many followed the example of 80-year-old Maridjan, the spiritual keeper of the mountain, who remained in his village just six kilometres from Merapi's peak.

Senior officials and police unsuccessfully urged Mr Maridjan to leave, believing hundreds would follow. "Most important is to pray," Mr Maridjan advised them.

With AGENCIES

[Fredfredson]

Indonesian volcano's activity level rises

Updated Mon. May. 15 2006 6:28 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...0515?hub=World



Mount Merapi heated up early Monday as the volcano shot out almost-continuous clouds of dangerous hot ash and debris.

One eruption sent ash, rock fragments and volcanic gas almost four kilometres down the mountain's western flank, said Ratdomopurbo, the region's chief volcanologist.

Villagers who had not yet evacuated their homes waited beside the road and were told to stand by for possible evacuation.

Some returned to their homes Sunday, even as the crater belched smoke, ash, and sent streams of lava flowing down the mountain.

Officials have raised the alert to the highest level, warning that a major eruption could happen at anytime.

The volcano, which has remained relatively inactive in recent years, has rumbled back to life recently, lighting up the night sky with fiery explosions and streams of magma, and sending spectacular clouds of black ash billowing into the sky.

Thousands have already been taken to evacuation centres located outside of the danger zone, but many have ignored the risk, returning to take care of livestock and crops on their farms on the mountainside.

Though an eruption is expected any time, the site -- located about 400 kilometres east of Jakarta -- has drawn scores of curious onlookers.

On Sunday police set up roadblocks to keep vehicles from getting within seven or eight kilometres of the crater, but allowed villagers to return to their homes to care for their farms. Police warned residents to return to safety by nightfall.

About 4,500 of those who are most at risk were evacuated on Saturday, but many young men stayed put.

"I cannot force them," said Widi Sutikno, the official co-ordinating the emergency response. "All I can do is tell them to keep looking up at the mountain and have a motorbike ready."

Experts say an unstable dome of lava is accumulating around the steep rim of the volcano's crater. If it collapses, it will likely cause avalanches of hot lava that reach temperatures of 400 degrees Celsius and travel at more than 100 km/h.

"Hot clouds keep appearing all the time," said Sugiono, a scientist working on the volcano monitoring team. "If you get stuck in them, then you have no chance."

Merapi, one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, is part of the series of fault lines known as the "Ring of Fire." They stretch from the Western Hemisphere, through Japan and into Southeast Asia.

In 1994, Merapi erupted, emitting a cloud of gas that burned 60 people to death.

Prior to that, Merapi erupted in 1930, claiming 1,300 lives.

[Fredfredson]

Merapi's activity climbs in wake of quake
By Slamet Susanto
The Jakarta Post Publication Date: 30-05-2006

http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?aid=1807

A volcanologist warned Monday (May 29) that Mt. Merapi's activity level had tripled in the wake of Saturday's catastrophic earthquake in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

A. Ratdomopurbo said an eruption was still possible following the quake--measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale according to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency--after the volcano expelled more hot clouds of ash and gas which reached farther distances.

"The quake in Bantul clearly affected Merapi's activities. Since the quake, the volcano has discharged hot clouds three times more than usual," the chief of the Yogyakarta-based Volcanological Research and Technology Development Center told The Jakarta Post.

The volcano, which has been rumbling and spewing smoke and lava for weeks, only expelled 45 hot clouds Friday, but the number rose to 54 on Saturday (May 27) and then jumped to 159 on Sunday (May 28).

"The increase might have happened because the lava dome was shaken, opening up a new way for the hot clouds (to be released)," Ratdomopurbo said.

International volcanology experts were divided about whether the earthquake and the volcano's heightened activity were related.

Chew Soon Hoe, an associate professor of engineering geology at the National University of Singapore, said Merapi's renewed activity and the earthquake are related. Both are in the same subduction zone--the area where one tectonic plate slides under another plate--along a boundary between the Euro-Asia plate and the India-Australia plate, he told AP.

"This ocean plate ... is the cause of the recent earthquake and volcanic activity in Indonesia," Chew said. "Because it is very near, the energy released by the quake will accelerate or perturb the activity of the volcano."

David Booth, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, disagreed, saying the quake would not necessarily cause the volcano to erupt. He said the plates that shifted to cause the earthquake did not necessarily open cracks in the surface that would be needed to cause a volcanic eruption.

"Volcanoes are all about creating pathways for the magma to move up to the surface," Booth said in a telephone interview. "It's like a lemonade bottle having been shaken. There is enormous pressure there. But if there isn't a pathway to the surface, then the pressure will stay contained."

Ratdomopurbo said the clouds also were heading in a new direction, from the usual route toward Magelang city in Central Java to Gendol riverbank in Cangkringan, Sleman regency.

"The new direction of the hot clouds is the latest development in Merapi's activity," he said.

The clouds also reached a farther distance of four kilometers down the slope from recent days. It was similar to the distance of the first hot cloud recorded on May 15.

The increased activity, he added, also was marked by a higher number of tremors, from 29 recorded a day before the quake to 237 on Sunday. On Monday, in the period from midnight to 6am, over 85 tremors had been recorded at the mountain.

Ratdomopurbo was unsure of the impact of Saturday's quake on the volcano's two lava cauldrons--one located at 1.5km deep and the other 6km deep.

"We can't detect it because they are located deep under the surface. What we can observe is the increase in activity of its hot clouds," Ratdomopurbo said.

He predicted it would expel bigger hot clouds, with the greatest danger posed by an eruption due to high temperatures and toxic gases. The clouds--which can reach temperatures of 1,000 degree Celsius at the crater and 400 degrees Celsius by the time they reach communities on the volcano's slopes -- killed 50 people during a 1994 eruption.

Sukamto, a resident of Senolewah village located some 6.5km from the crater, said hot clouds were more frequently seen and larger than usual as they headed south in the direction of the town of Sleman.

"All this time, the hot clouds never headed south. Now, they are bigger and darker," he said.

[Fredfredson]

Java volcano increases activity

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5058018.stm

Mt Merapi emits plumes of smoke

See the activity
Indonesia's Mount Merapi has been showing increasing activity, emitting large gas clouds and sending more than 15,000 villagers fleeing to safety.

The volcano has spewed out its largest gas cloud yet, experts said.

The Indonesian authorities are stepping up emergency preparations in case of a major eruption.

Scientists fear the volcano, which has been showing signs of erupting since early May, has been further destabilised by an earthquake nearby.

The quake, which struck near the ancient city of Yogyakarta two weeks ago, killed 6,200 people.

A major humanitarian operation is under way to help survivors, but local and international agencies are also aware they may have to face the possibility of a second disaster not far away, on the slopes of Merapi.

Lava flows

The volcano has been in what scientists call the early stages of eruption for weeks, sporadically belching out thick clouds of toxic gas, ash and red hot lava.

But there was a noticeable increase in its activity on Thursday, when it sent a cloud of hot gas 4.5 km (3 miles) down its southern slope, the furthest such clouds have reached so far.

The volcano also sent a series of other gas and ash clouds, as well as lava flows, streaming down the mountain in different directions during the course of the morning.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey, in Jakarta, says parts of the crater wall have collapsed, allowing lava to escape from different points and forcing the authorities to rethink which villages are now most at risk.

"A lot of people are panicking," said Sutomo, a government official in the area.

At least 15,000 people are reported to have fled from the southern and western flanks of the volcano on Thursday, heading to nearby towns.

Three weeks ago, the government raised the warning of an eruption on Merapi to the highest level of alert, and started evacuating people living near the crater to government-run camps.

But some people refused orders to leave, while others have chosen to return during daylight hours, citing the need to tend their crops and livestock.

This movement is making it extremely difficult for aid workers to get an accurate picture of how many people require help, according to the BBC correspondent in Indonesia, Rachel Harvey.