Posted on 05/04/2006 1:23:43 AM PDT by bd476
May 4, 3:30 AM (ET)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Red-hot lava began flowing from the crater of Indonesia's rumbling volcano Mount Merapi early Thursday as vulcanologists warned residents an eruption may be imminent.
Burning streams of molten lava started pouring down the slopes at about 2 a.m. local time, said Subandriyo, the chief of Merapi's Volcanology and Monitoring offices, who goes by a single name.
Residents still near the 9,700-foot peak were urged to leave immediately, even though officials said they were not yet raising the alert to the highest level.
"The volcano has shown significantly more activity," Subandriyo said.
Merapi is one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
It last erupted in 1994, sending out a searing cloud of gas that burned 60 people to death. About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930.
Villagers on a truck return home as Mount Merapi is seen in the background at Deles village in Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia, Saturday, April 29, 2006. Red-hot lava began flowing from the crater of Indonesia's rumbling volcano Mount Merapi early Thursday May 4, 2006 as vulcanologists warned residents an eruption may be imminent. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Do muslims through women into volcanos? Just wondering...
Throw
I think it's time to leave for all those folks out there...
When the lava starts, you can count me GONE.
Still, I'm sure there are some who will think, "Oh, lava flows happen every day all over the world. No biggie..." But as for me and my house, we are outta here when molten rock starts to roll down the slopes.
I pray for the people of Indonesia. They have truly needed it, whether or not they want it...
I climbed Mt. Merapi in April of 2001, a month after it had a spectacular eruption.
I've also been on the lava tube as lava poured out of it on the summit of Mt. Etna.
The power of things like volcanoes (and earthquakes, hurricanes, etc) absolutely dwarf mankind and we kid ourselves if we think we have any real impact on our world (hint:global warming).
That's true, Dandelion. When the lava starts flowing, it's time to exit as quickly and safely as possible. Prayers for the people near the volcano.
how high is that?
;-)
9,548 feet (2,911 meters)
Oh sooooo you are the reason we have had volcanic burps...didn't you toss a Virgin into the thang when you scaled it..
Serious...Must have been one heck of a hike...what a great accomplishment.
I am a micro mountain hiker...40 minutes in and 40 minutes out...but it is uncharted terrain other than my silk nursing tape to mark the trail so I don't get lost.
Hey BD the aftershocks and other Global activity is rather quiet.
THe tide was extremly low here today so I got to play a bit in the stuff with gloves as the bacteria levels are at a high level.
The slice of the Moon is breath taking tonight.
Merapi Volcano, Java, Indonesia Ping.
Your mountain climbing hikes sound like fun, Global.
I'm happy the earthquake areas are quiet now. Hope they stay that way. I was looking at two African quakes yesterday in an area which is not usually very active.
No worries though, Americans will most likely be the first group to volunteer to help rebuild their villages, feed their children, build them a hospital and waste management system, then launch a satellite with wireless video services and provide free Nintendos to their kids to play while eating from the new McDonald's being built up the newly paved road.
Come to think of it, this is like winning the lotto for some of these nations...
I wonder if this increased activity is connected to the 8.0 Tonga earthquake that was reported yesterday. I think I will go look at the Augustine volcano page and check out their 24 hour seismographic chart and see if there was a tremor. Also the weekly volcano update page.
Great Link on the Hazards of the Maripo (sp)
Did I read it wrong or what sounds like a very heavy populated area in a small area.
Not to be stupid or maybe so as it is early/late but where was that Antartica 7.1 toot in reference to this small but Heugh Island eruption?
I still think Art Bellish we are going to have an underground burp here but as long as Alaska is passing gas every couple of hours I trust we won't have any movement...If Alaska goes dorment for more than 48 hours I am a heading to higher ground with Dark Chocolate, Red Wine *IMO is Gross but may be needed for medicinal shock treatments and all my 5 gal water jugs plus the survival gear.
Oh and the family too...
I'm back after visiting the Augustine Volcano page. They have a 24 hour seismic record you can click for a full page view of seismic activity. When you get that page it lists all 20 volcanos which are being monitored seismically. They said the Tonga quake occurred at 7:26:35 am AKDT. Almost all of the 20 seismic records had a more or less pronounced blip at 7:39 am. Some also recorded increased general build up of activity toward the end of the day. Some of the most interesting were Gareloi, Veniaminof, Martin, and Shishaldin. You can also go back to yesterday and 2 days ago to look at the 24 hour record.
I'm back after visiting the Augustine Volcano page. They have a 24 hour seismic record you can click for a full page view of seismic activity. When you get that page it lists all 20 volcanos which are being monitored seismically. They said the Tonga quake occurred at 7:26:35 am AKDT. Almost all of the 20 seismic records had a more or less pronounced blip at 7:39 am. Some also recorded increased general build up of activity toward the end of the day. Some of the most interesting were Gareloi, Veniaminof, Martin, and Shishaldin. You can also go back to yesterday and 2 days ago to look at the 24 hour record.
LOL, thank you for the smile. I needed that!
This is a volcano with a recent pyroclastic history and the locals know it.
Pyroclastic flow is much more dangerous than the spectacular lava flows that we see in night shots of Hawaiian volcanos.
Yet people resist evacuation.
OK. Lava is flowing. I guess my only question is... "How much?"
You are aware, of course, activity has picked up a bit in the last 2 months or so, but not in the continental US.
'Red-hot lava began flowing from the crater'
Dumb me. I assumed the Hildabeast was post-menopausal.
Thanks for the info. I was trying to remember exactly where Merapi is and I see from the post that it is north of Yogyakarta. I have yet to visit it. I've visited one north of Bandung. You could walk right up to the edge of the cone and hike all the way around it. That is, if you could push pass all the vendors which haunt the place. One of their big sellers, btw, was a coon skin cap like Davy Crockett wore. Good grief, I don't go all the way around the world to buy bad American souveniers!
Another time the family went to a volcano on Bali. That morning as we were dressing at the hotel which was a sea level near Kuta, my son asked me if his shorts and tank top would be appropriate dress. Not thinking, I answered yes, they would be fine. It was a very cold drizzle at the top of that volcano! The son has yet to forgive me. LOL!
Not only are they stubborn; they just don't believe there is anything they can do about it. Most of the people on Java are moslem. They believe in kismet, fate, which means if you're time is up, it's up and it is useless to try to do anything about it.
The volcano we visited on Bali had a very large caldera and there were roads, villages, schools and farms INSIDE the cone. And you could see steam rising from vents with visable and recent lava flows.
On 27 August 1883, the Indonesian island of Rakata almost vanished. In fact, about 75% of the land area of Rakata no longer exists. It was the most violent volcanic eruption recorded in world history that caused the destruction, and left more than 30,000 dead.
Krakatau (Krakatoa) volcano was located on the island of Rakata, 40 km off the west coast of Java. Since early historic ages, violent volcanic activity has been known to exist in the region. The "great eruption" of Krakatau must have taken place around 416 AD, as reported in ancient Javanese scriptures. The eruption formed three Islands (Rakata, Panjang, and Sertung), and caused a 7 km long caldera (cavity) to form underneath Rakata. When Krakatau erupted again in 1883, the island virtually collapsed into its cavity, 300 m below sea level. So violent was the eruption that volcanic ash and debris reached as far west as Madagascar. Tidal waves resulted in the destruction of more than 150 villages, and were felt in France and England. In Australia, hundreds of kilometers away from the site, the explosion was heard.
Since the disappearance of Krakatau, smaller eruptions have been observed. The ocean floor has been since gradually rising, eventually giving birth in 1927 to a new island, north of what remains of Rakata. Today, Anak Krakatau (Son of Krakatau) rises more than 150 m above sea level and is two km in diameter.
1. The explosions were heard on Rodriguez Island, 4653 km distant across the Indian Ocean, and over 1/13th of the earth's surface.
2. Ash fell on Singapore 840 km to the N, Cocos (Keeling) Island 1155 km to the SW, and ships as far as 6076 km WNW. Darkness covered the Sunda Straits from 11 a.m. onthe 27th until dawn the next day.
3. Giant waves reached heights of 40 m above sea level, devastating everything in their path and hurling ashore coral blocks weighing as much as 600 tons.
4. At least 36,417 people were killed, most by the giant sea waves, and 165 coastal villages were destroyed.
5. When the eruption ended only 1/3 of Krakatau, formerly 5x9 km, remained above sea level, and new islands of steaming pumice and ash lay to the north where the sea had been 36 m deep.
6. Every recording barograph in the world ducumented the passage of the airwave, some as many as 7 times as the wave bounced back and forth between the eruption site and its antipodes for 5 days after the explosion.
7. Tide gauges also recorded the sea wave's passage far from Krakatau. The wave "reached Aden in 12 hours, a distance of 3800 nautical miles, usually traversed by a good steamer in 12 days".
8. Blue and green suns were observed as fine ash and aerosol, erupted perhaps 50 km into the stratosphere, circled the equator in 13 days.
9. Theree months after the eruption these products had spread to higher latitudes causing such vivid red sunset afterglows that fire engines were called out in New York, Poughkeepsie, and New Haven to quench the apparent conflagration. Unusual sunsets continued for 3 years.
10. Rafts of floating pumice-locally thick enouth to support men, trees, and no doubt other biological passengers-crossed the indian Ocean in 10 months. Others reached Melanesia, and were still afloat two years after the eruption.
11. The volcanic dust veil that created such spectacular atmospheric effects also acted as a solar radiation filter, lowering global temperatures as much as 1.2 degree C in the year after the eruption. Temperatures did not return to normal until 1888.
The 1883 Eruption
In the years preceding the 1883 eruption, seismic activity around the volcano was intense, with some earthquakes felt as far distant as Australia. Beginning 20 May 1883, three months before the final explosion, steam venting began to occur on a regular basis from one of the island's three cones. Eruptions of ash reached an altitude of 6 km and explosions could be heard in Batavia (Jakarta) 160 km away. However, it died down by the end of May.
The volcano began erupting again on 19 June. The seat of the eruption is believed to have been a new vent or multiple vents which formed between Perboewatan and Danan, more or less where the current volcanic cone of Anak Krakatau is to be found. The violence of the eruption caused tides in the vicinity to be unusually high, and ships at anchor had to be moored with chains as a result. 11 August saw the onset of larger eruptions, with ashy plumes being emitted from as many as eleven vents. On 24 August, eruptions further intensified. At about 1pm (local time) on 26 August, the volcano went into its paroxysmal phase, and by 2pm observers could see a black cloud of ash 27 km (17 miles) high. At this point, the eruption was virtually continuous and explosions could be heard every ten minutes or so. Ships within 20 km (14 miles) of the volcano reported heavy ash fall, with pieces of hot pumice up to 10cm in diameter landing on their decks. A small tsunami hit the shores of Java and Sumatra some 40 km (28 miles) away between 6pm and 7pm.
On 27 August, the volcano entered the final cataclysmic stage of its eruption. Four enormous explosions took place at 5.30am, 6.42am, 8.20am, and 10.02am. Each was accompanied by very large tsunamis believed to have been over 100ft high in places. A large area of the Sunda Strait and a number of locations on the Sumatran coast were also affected by pyroclastic flows from the volcano. The explosions were so violent that they were heard 2,200 miles (3,500 km) away in Australia and the island of Rodrigues, near Mauritius, 4,800 km away; the sound of Krakatoa's destruction is believed to be the loudest sound in recorded history, reaching levels of 180 dBSPL 100 miles (160 km) away. Ash was propelled to a height of 50 miles (80 km). The eruptions diminished rapidly after that point and by the morning of August 28, the volcano was quiet. Small eruptions continued in the following months and in February 1884. In the aftermath of the eruption, it was found that the island of Krakatoa had almost entirely disappeared, leaving behind a 250m-deep caldera.
The combined effects of pyroclastic flows, volcanic ashes and tsunamis had disastrous results in the region. There were no survivors from 3,000 people located at the island of Sebesi, about 13 km from Krakatoa. Pyroclastic flows killed around 1,000 people at Ketimbang, located on the coast of Sumatra some 40 km north from Krakatoa. The official death toll recorded by the Dutch authorities was 36,417 and many settlements were destroyed, including Teluk Betung and Ketimbang in Sumatra, and Sirik and Semarang in Java. The areas of Bantam on Java and the Lampongs on Sumatra were devastated. Ships as far away as South Africa rocked as tsunamis hit them, and the bodies of victims were found floating in the ocean for weeks after the event. There are numerous documented reports of groups of human skeletons floating across the Indian Ocean on rafts of volcanic pumice and washing up on the east coast of Africa, up to a year after the eruption. Some land on Java was never repopulated; instead, it reverted to jungle and is now the Ujung Kulon National Park.
The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa is among the most violent volcanic events in modern times (a VEI of 6, equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT - about thirteen thousand times the yield of the Little Boy bomb which devastated Hiroshima, Japan. (Little Boy was officially recorded at "only" 15 kilotons. In contrast, the biggest bomb ever exploded by man, the Tsar Bomba, had an explosive power of 57 megatons.) Concussive air waves from the explosions travelled seven times around the world, and the sky was darkened for days afterwards. Waves from the tsunamis were recorded as far away as the English Channel.
The tsunamis that accompanied the eruption are believed to have been caused by gigantic pyroclastic flows entering the sea; each of the five great explosions was accompanied by a massive pyroclastic flow resulting from the gravitational collapse of the eruption column. This caused several km³ of material to enter the sea, displacing an equally huge volume of seawater. Some of the pyroclastic flows reached the Sumatran coast as much as 25 miles (40 km) away, having apparently moved across the water on a "cushion" of superheated steam. There are also indications of submarine pyroclastic flows reaching as far as 10 miles (15km) from the volcano.
As a result of the huge amount of material deposited by the volcano, the surrounding ocean floor was drastically altered. It is estimated that as much as 18-21 cubic km of ignimbrite was deposited over an area of 1.1 million square km, largely filling the 30-40m deep basin around Krakatoa. The land masses of Verlaten and Lang were increased, and volcanic ash continues to be a significant part of the geological composition of these islands. Polish Hat disappeared. A new rock islet called Bootsmansrots ('Black Man's Rock')- a fragment of Danan - was left. Two nearby sandbanks (called Steers and Calmeyer) were built up into islands by ashfall, but the sea later washed them away.
The fate of Krakatoa itself has been the subject of some dispute among geologists. It was originally proposed that the island had been blown apart by the force of the eruption. However, most of the material deposited by the volcano is clearly magmatic in origin and the caldera formed by the eruption is not extensively filled with deposits from the 1883 eruption. This indicates that the island subsided into an empty magma chamber at the end of the eruption sequence, rather than having been destroyed during the eruptions.
Breaking: EXXON-Mobile just raised the price of gasoline 45 cents/gal on fear of burping south Pacific volcano.
I was at Merapi in 1987. What I remember most is the nearby lodge that tried to please foreign visitors by putting macaroni and cheese on the menu. Their version was a milky soup with some pieces of pasta floating in it. Naturally, you ate this by pouring it over a mound of rice.
it is a beautiful volcano though isn't it?
My thoughts too.
I hope we're not 'setting-up' for a big blow in the area. That region has caused some serious worldwide problems in the past and I'm not talking about global warming, think cooling.
Just my small, somewhat technical contribution to The Big Bang Theory.......we never really know exactly what those volcanoes will ever do.
Merapi menace
1998: Ash and gas force thousands to flee
1994: 60 killed
1930: 1,300 killed
That is a big volcano! When it launches its pile of ash we're going to have some series global cooling.
I had such a fear of erupting volcanoes as a kid (I had watched too many bad scifi movies on TV), that I acquired an adult fascination with them, and try to climb the active ones. BTW, I'm not brave in any sense of the word.
We missed all the action at Merapi when I was there; the spectacular eruption was the month before. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to get anywhere near the mountain.
One of the loveliest thing I've ever beheld was a view of central Java from the hotel at Amijiwo (check it out: http://www.fivestaralliance.com/luxury_hotel/yogjakarta/amanjiwo) which is located in the rainforests of the tropical highlands. One has a panoramic view of a long lush green valley with with extinct and smoking volcanoes in the distance.
There was a woman who climbed Mount Whitney in California (highest peak in the lower 48) at age 87, so what are you waiting for? :)
"Oh sooooo you are the reason we have had volcanic burps...didn't you toss a Virgin into the thang when you scaled it.. "
Sorry about angering the Volcano Gods. I didn't toss a virgin in, since as we ALL know, they're very hard to come by these days, but I did promise I'd never do it again!
The home land is exploding! This is where I grew up!
Quick, Mr. Frodo. Throw in the ring!!
Thanks Norm. That's a good reminder of the possibilities here.
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