Indonesia: aftermath of the eruption of Mount Merapi (March 2020).
Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted twice on Friday, firing ash plumes up to 6 kilometers (4 mi) into the sky and causing two airports to close.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said the volcano's warning status, raised from its lowest level last month, has not changed and the 3-kilometer (unaccounted for) area around the crater remains in effect.
He said the first eruption occurred at 8:20 am and lasted two minutes. In the evening, Merapi erupted again, spewing volcanic ash up to 2.4 km (1.5 mi), reported local agency volcanology.
Materials unleashed by the first eruption were blown north, leading to the temporary closure of Ahmad Yani International Airport in the central capital of Java, Semarang and Ade Sumarno Airport in Solo, officials said.
The mountain is located about 30 kilometers (18 mi) from the city of Yogyakarta on the densely populated island of Java.
About a quarter of a million people live within a 10 kilometer (6 mi) radius of the volcano.
The last major eruption of Merapi in 2010 killed 347 people.
Indonesia, an archipelago of over 250 million people, sits on the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. State seismologists monitor more than 120 active volcanoes.
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On the island of Sumatra (Indonesia), the Sinabung volcano woke up.
The eruption took place last Sunday, June 9, but social media users continue to share impressive footage taken at the moment when Sinabung threw out a column of ash seven kilometers high.
As specified in the National Agency for Volcanology, pyroclastic flows (a mixture of high-temperature volcanic gases, ash and debris formed during a volcanic eruption - approx. RV) were recorded at a distance of more than nine kilometers from the crater.
The eruption itself lasted about nine minutes, followed by several tremors. Now near the volcano there is a "red" level of danger.
According to the official representative of the National Agency for Emergency Situations and Consequences of Disasters, Sutopo Purvo Nugroho, residents of the villages located dangerously close to the volcano were promptly evacuated.
When the ash began to settle to the ground, experts urged the local population to put on protective masks: they were distributed free of charge to residents of villages in the zone of volcanic ash settling.
Thousands of frightened tourists are reported to have fled the town of Berastagi in the Karo district of North Sumatra, about 23 kilometers from the volcano.
No one was injured as a result of the eruption.
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Mount Sinabung is 2,460 meters above sea level. For the first time in nearly 400 years, the volcano woke up in 2010. Ash emissions were repeated in 2013 and early 2014.
In the summer of 2014, Mount Sinabung erupted for the first time in four hundred years. In June 2015, more than six thousand people had to be evacuated from the area around the reactivated volcano. In February 2018, the volcano ejected a column of ash about five kilometers high.
Indonesia is part of the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire" - a powerful tectonic fault, where the plate that forms the bottom Indian Ocean, as it were, "squeezed" under the Asian plate, of which the island of Sumatra is a part. The energy that is accumulated as a result of the movement of tectonic plates is often released in the form of powerful tremors and volcanic eruptions.
The largest cluster of volcanoes is located in the "fire belt" of the Earth - the Pacific volcanic ring. It is here that 90% of all earthquakes in the world have occurred. The so-called fire belt stretches along the entire perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. In the west along the coast from and to New Zealand and Antarctica, and in the east, passing through the Andes and the Cordillera, it reaches the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
One of the currently active centers of the "fire belt" is located in the north of Indonesia - the Sinabung volcano. This one of 130 volcanoes in Sumatra is notable for the fact that over the past seven years it has been constantly active and has attracted the attention of both scientists and the media.
Chronicle of Sinabung
The first eruption of the Indonesian volcano Sinabung after four centuries of sleep began in 2010. On the weekend of August 28 and 29, there was an underground rumble and hum. Many residents, about 10,000 people, fled away from the awakened volcano.
On Sunday night, the Sinabung volcano woke up completely: the eruption began with a powerful ejection of a column of ash and smoke more than 1.5 km upward. The explosion on Sunday was followed by a more powerful one on Monday, August 30, 2010. The eruption claimed the lives of two people. In total, about 30,000 surrounding residents were forced to leave their homes and fields covered with volcanic ash with a lost crop. In the photo below, residents are running away from a cloud of ash.
The second eruption of Mount Sinabung began on November 6, 2013 and then lasted for several more days. The volcano threw out columns of ash to a height of 3 km, the plume from which spread for tens of kilometers. More than 5,000 people from 7 surrounding villages were evacuated. The Sumatran government has urged not to approach the Sinabung volcano by more than 3 km.
In February 2014, a disaster struck. After the cessation of volcanic activity (in early January), the evacuated residents of villages located more than 5 km from the volcano were allowed to return home. But immediately after that, on February 1, 16 people were killed by a powerful lava outburst and pyroclastic flow.
And until now, the Sinabung volcano does not calm down: a column of ash and smoke is visible for many kilometers, eruptions of various strengths and durations do not stop and take the lives of daredevils who risked returning to the volcano's exclusion zone with a radius of 7 km, which was organized by the government of Sumatra after the disaster of 2014.
It is noteworthy that in the exclusion zone you can find entire cities and ghost villages, crumbling, empty, as if the apocalypse had already overtaken the Earth. But there are also brave farmers who continue to live at the foot of Mount Sinabung. What attracts them so much?
Why do people settle near the foot of volcanoes
The soil on the slopes of volcanoes is extremely fertile due to the minerals that get into it with volcanic ash. In a warm climate, you can grow more than one crop per year. Therefore, the farmers of Sumatra, despite the dangerous proximity of Mount Sinabung, do not leave their homes and arable land at its foot.
In addition to Agriculture they mine gold, diamonds, ore, and other minerals.
Why is a volcanic eruption dangerous?
Among people who do not live in geologically active areas, it is a common cliche that a volcanic eruption is associated solely with the flow of lava that rushes down the mountainside. And if a person is lucky to be or to settle and sow crops on the opposite side of it, then the danger has passed. Otherwise, you just need to climb higher on a rock or swim on a rock debris among lava, like on an ice floe on water, the main thing is not to fall. And it is better to cross to the right side of the mountain in time and wait an hour or two.
Lava is definitely deadly. As well as an earthquake that accompanies a volcanic eruption. But the flow is moving rather slowly, and a physically full-fledged person is able to get away from it. An earthquake also does not always have a large magnitude.
In fact, pyroclastic flows and volcanic ash are of great danger.
Pyroclastic flows
The hot gas that escapes from the depths of the volcano picks up stones and ash and sweeps away everything in its path, rushing down. Such streams reach a speed of 700 km / h. For example, you can imagine the Sapsan train at full speed. Its speed is about three times slower, but despite this, the picture is quite impressive. The temperature of gases in the rushing mass reaches 1000 degrees, it can burn all life on the way in a matter of minutes.
One of the deadliest known in history, killed 28,000 people at once (according to some sources, up to 40,000 people) in the port of Saint-Pierre on May 8, 1902 in the morning of the Mont Pele volcano, at the foot of which the port was located, after a series of monstrous explosions, a cloud of hot gas was thrown out and the ashes, which in a matter of minutes reached settlement... The pyroclastic current swept through the city at a breakneck speed, and there was no escape even on the water, which instantly boiled and killed everyone who fell into it from overturned ships in the harbor. Only one ship managed to get out of the bay.
In February 2014, such a stream killed 14 people during the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Sinabung.
Volcanic ash
At the time of the eruption, ash and rather large stones thrown out by the volcano can burn or cause injury. If we talk about the ash that covers everything around after the eruption, then its consequences are more long-lasting. In its own way, it is even beautiful - the post-apocalyptic landscape from the island of Sumatra in the photo below is proof of this.
But ash is bad for the health of people and pets. Walking in such a place for a long time without a respirator is deadly. Also, ash is very heavy and, especially when mixed with rainwater, can break through the roof of a house, crashing it onto those inside.
In addition, in a large number it is also destructive for agriculture.
Cars, airplanes, water treatment plants, even communication systems - everything breaks down under a layer of ash, which also indirectly poses a danger to human life.
Extreme tourism
Not only the farmer, whose reasons are very clear, can be found near the recent epicenter of the eruption. Extreme tourism on the slopes of active volcanoes generates income for the local population. In the photo, an extreme tourist who explores an abandoned city at the foot of Mount Sinabung in the exclusion zone. Behind him, a column of smoke is clearly visible, smoking over the volcano.
Man and nature continue to wage an unequal battle with each other!
Ash cloud
The eruption of Mount Agung in northeastern Bali began over the weekend. As a result, nearby resorts and villages were covered with a thin layer of ash. Dark gray clouds above the summit of the volcano were visible in the island's capital, Denpasar, and even from the neighboring island of Lombok.
Lava flow ejection
As night fell, a bright glow from the crater illuminated an ash cloud that rose 6,000 meters above the summit of Mount Agung. It began showing signs of activity back in September, prompting local authorities to raise the volcano's hazard status to emergency and evacuate 140,000 people living nearby. However, later, on October 29, the danger level was lowered.
The eruption of Mount Agung in Bali
Highest point in Bali
The Agung volcano, 3142 meters high, is the most high point islands. As a result of gas and ash emissions, the operation of two airports at once was stopped - on the island of Bali and on neighboring island Lombok.
The eruption of Mount Agung in Bali
Paradise under the ashes
Bali island - main tourist centre Indonesia. Beautiful ocean beaches, temples and lush forests attract about 5 million tourists a year. But, according to Made Sugiri, a representative local hotel Mahagiri Panoramic, in recent months, the number of visitors has decreased: "We are out of the danger zone, but, as in other resorts in the region, of course, the eruptions are causing an outflow of tourists."
The eruption of Mount Agung in Bali
"Still Safe"
Indonesia's Emergency Management Agency points out that Bali is "still safe" for tourists. The agency said in a statement that at the weekend, the status emergency for Agung remained at level 3 (one point below the indicator of the high danger). At the same time, despite a number of eruptions, volcanic activity remains relatively stable.
The eruption of Mount Agung in Bali
Airports closed
The situation was different with the status of air travel over the island - on Sunday, November 26, the level of danger here reached the highest - red - mark. Although many flights continued to operate, hundreds of people were stranded. As a result, the airport on the island of Lombok was first closed, and then the main one. international Airport Ngurah Rai in Bali.
The eruption of Mount Agung in Bali
Exclusion zone around the volcano
As a result of the latest lava emissions, about 25,000 people have fled their homes. The authorities urged everyone inside the exclusion zone within a radius of 7.5 kilometers from the volcano's crater to evacuate immediately. Mount Agung is one of over 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Its last major eruption, which happened in 1963, killed more than a thousand people.
The eruption of Mount Agung in Bali
Magma and ash
Volcanologists described the renewed activity of the Agung volcano on November 25 as a phreatic explosion, that is, an eruption with evaporation of smoke caused by the heating and expansion of groundwater. On November 26, authorities said a magmatic eruption had already begun, judging by the settling of the ash.
The eruption of Mount Agung in Bali
Bali precautions
"Mount Agung is still spewing ash, but we need to watch closely and be prepared for a more powerful, explosive eruption," warns Indonesian volcanologist Gede Suantika. Soldiers and police are handing out protective masks to people in nearby villages and resorts.
The active volcano Sinabung dormant for 400 years, but suddenly reactivated in 2010. A terrible tragedy claimed many lives, but as soon as people began to return to the Isle of White Island, where, in fact, this volcano is located, nature again began to terrorize local residents and tourists. Since 2010, the volcano has destroyed all living things several times, in 2019 another eruption took place, which claimed several lives. More detailed information provided by law enforcement officer John Tims.
Sinabung volcano eruption in 2019 video
Earlier it was reported that at the time the volcanic eruption began, there were no more than 50 tourists on the island. Rescuers managed to evacuate 23 people from the island, among them there are victims. It is still unknown how many people remained on White Island; no one can establish contact with them. John Tims says that while it is dangerous for rescuers to return there, they are going to resume the search as soon as such an opportunity arises.
Jacinda Ardern, the woman who serves as the country's prime minister, said she wishes to travel to the disaster zone on December 9, 2019. Jacinda expressed her sympathy for the victims. The official GeoNet portal reports that more than 10 thousand tourists come to the island every year. White Island is 50 kilometers north of North Island... Experts in November 2019 recorded an increase in volcanic activity on the island, but tourists still came to see this island.
Death of missing people
Local authorities said that 8 people who are reported missing on the Isle of White Island have died. Information about this appeared on the official Facebok page of the local law enforcement department. Law enforcement officer John Tims said that there are no survivors on the island.
It is known that at the time of the activation of the volcano, which fell on the beginning of December 2019, there were no more than 50 people on the island. These people included citizens of New Zealand, Germany, England, China, Malaysia, Australia, England, and the United States. Not so long ago, information appeared that due to the eruption, 5 people died, another 31 were hospitalized. Most of the affected people is in critical condition.
Soon the bodies of the victims will be transported to Auckland for identification. A law enforcement official said it would be very difficult to identify the victims.
Sinabunga eruption timeline
Tragedy of 2010
A terrible tragedy occurred on one of the last days of August 2010. It is noteworthy that people have not worried about this volcano for 400 years, that is how long it was in hibernation mode. Experts recorded emissions of smoke and ash at a height of at least one and a half kilometers. About 12 villages were located within a radius of 6 kilometers from the volcano. the eruption forced more than 12 thousand local residents to flee, leaving their homes. In a short period of time, another 5,000 people abandoned their homes, all of them trying to escape as far as possible from Sinabung, destroying everything in its path.
Repetition of the tragedy in 2013
The volcano, which had previously slept for 400 years, began to erupt too often. The next eruption began at the very beginning of November 2013. A column of volcanic ash and smoke rose several kilometers above the summit of the volcano.
Chaos in 2014 and 2015
A few months after the tragedy in 2013, the Sinabung volcano in January 2014 again began to conduct a series of ash emissions. It is reported that then the volcano produced 30 ash emissions and 60 lava eruptions, thereby forcing more than 20 thousand local residents to leave their homes. Lava flowed 5 kilometers south of the volcanic crater, and the volcanic ash cloud reached a height of 4 kilometers.
In the winter of 2014, local residents witnessed the next activation of the volcano. Sinabung raised clouds of hot ash to a height of 2 kilometers into the air, lava swallowed all neighboring villages. About 14 people are considered dead. The eruption occurred after residents, who were more than 5 kilometers from the mountain, were allowed to return home after a long absence of volcanic activity. Among the dead were a journalist from a local TV channel and four children from high school together with your teacher. They all came to the mountain to see the eruption up close.
It is noteworthy that 7 people from the Indonesian Christian movement GMKI were present at the scene; these people wanted to save local residents, but, unfortunately, they died. In the summer of 2015, the volume of lava erupted by Sinabung rose to 3 million cubic meters, because of this, there was a real threat of collapse of the dome of the volcano. Local authorities said that people need to be evacuated, which was done. In total, more than 6 thousand people were evacuated.
Return of Sinabunga in 2016
In the winter of 2016, Sinabung once again began throwing out columns of ash. It is reported that at this time the pillars reached a height of three kilometers, the dome collapsed, and lava began to pour out. Due to the next eruption, which happened at the end of May of the same year, about 7 people died, while two more people were in critical condition.
Volcano activation in 2018
Another disaster happened at the end of February 2018. Huge columns of ash rose to a height of 5 kilometers and spread 4.9 kilometers southward. Locals were not hurt. Due to the reactivated volcano, Australia has decided to declare an emergency regime and prohibit aircraft from taking off.
