Indonesia volcano kills at least 11, fears over more eruptions

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

JAKARTA Sat Feb 1, 2014 9:08am EST

(Reuters) - Indonesia's Mount Sinabung volcano erupted and killed at least 11 people on the western island of Sumatra on Saturday, the first time it is known to have claimed any lives, a senior government official said.

The volcano has becoming increasingly active in recent months, regularly spewing columns of ash several kilometres into the air. The government has evacuated tens of thousands of residents near the area.

"Eleven people were killed because of the eruption this morning and the number could increase. No evacuations could be made at this stage because of the potential for more eruptions," Andi Arief, a presidential staff member, told Reuters.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/01/us-indonesia-volcano-idUSBREA100BU20140201

[jakeXT]

1. I saw a great picture from Indonesia recently, it was a different volcano

Sulfur combusts on contact with air to create stunning blue lava-like rivers of light in the Kawah Ijen crater on the island of Java.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140130-kawah-ijen-blue-flame-volcanoes-sulfur-indonesia-pictures/

[Berlum]

2. And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire

[DeSwiss]

3. K&R

[hunter]

5. Pyroclastic flows are terrifying.

News photos and videos don't really convey the scale destruction.

Hiking around in the aftermath of the Mount St. Helens eruption gave me much more respect for volcanoes. If I ever found myself in an evacuation zone I'd probably flee a few hundred miles beyond it.

I suppose it became yet another one of my phobias. Oddly, earthquakes and tsunamis do note evoke such a strong reaction in me, even though I live in earthquake country. I don't like being in certain kinds of structures, however. I'd hate to be a commuter over the Bay Bridge and surrounding freeways. My wife's sister was such a commuter at the time of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and we didn't hear she was safe for many excruciating hours.

[PADemD]

4. Video of Sinabung eruption

middle of page

Note: page refreshes every 60 minutes

http://earthquake-report.com/2013/05/27/wordwide-volcano-activity-copahue-volcano-chile-alert-raised-to-red/

[2naSalit]

6. Good link

Thanks!

2na

[yuiyoshida]

7. Found these

2

[Scairp]

8. I don't understand these people

They go there having been told, and probably having seen for themselves, that the volcano is dangerous, could erupt big at any time, and they ignore this. I just really don't get it.

[adirondacker]

9. MSNBC kind of explained it...

"An Indonesian volcano that has been rumbling for months unleased a major eruption Saturday, killing 14 people just a day after authorities allowed thousands of villagers who had been evacuated to return to its slopes, saying that activity was decreasing, officials said.

Among the dead on Mount Sinabung were a local television journalist and four high-school students and their teacher who were visiting the mountain to see the eruptions up close, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. At least three other people were injured, and authorities feared the death toll would rise."

snip

"The latest eruptions came just a week after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited displaced villagers in Sinabung and pledged to relocate them away from the mountain. Villagers are attracted to the slopes of volcanoes because the eruptions make for fertile soil."

http://news.msn.com/world/indonesia-volcano-erupts-again

[freshwest]

10. From Reuters, it appears they didn't 'go there.' Instead they had no way to leave:

The volcano has becoming increasingly active in recent months, regularly spewing columns of ash several kilometres into the air. The government has evacuated tens of thousands of residents near the area.

Eleven people were killed because of the eruption this morning and the number could increase. No evacuations could be made at this stage because of the potential for more eruptions," Andi Arief, a presidential staff member, told Reuters.

Let's take these facts into account:

Sinabung is one of nearly 130 active volcanoes in the world's most populous country, which stands along the "Ring of Fire" volcanic belt around the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Indonesia's most deadly volcanic eruption in recent years was of Mount Merapi, near the densely populated city of Yogyakarta in central Java. It erupted in late 2010, killing more than 350 people.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/01/us-indonesia-volcano-idUSBREA100BU20140201

I don't think they are gawking at the eruption in the pictures. It's like people watching the Twin Towers. They can't help but look, you know?

They live in one of the most fertile ecosystems of the planet and maybe they accept this.

They have adapted a lifestyle of being uprooted, leaving one island for another but those who are killed have put in a lot of work and resist leaving.

Considering the population and the means of evacuation in such areas surrounded by ocean, the government can't deal with it effectively.

It's a totally different way of life that may seem crazy to us. Like being on a roller coaster, just going day by day. There may be great benefits to living there most of the time.

Just my interpretation.

[Scairp]

11. Excuse me

But they did just "go there". The authorities very irresponsibly told them it was fine to go and now many are dead. The line you put in bold font for me, like I'm 5 and can't read for myself without it, was about AFTER the volcano had erupted. They meant they could not go in NOW to try and get survivors out. And thank you very much for the information about the volcanoes and the Ring of Fire, which I already know all about all by myself, without being patronized by the likes of you. They conceal information like that in books, which I read, and I study geology as a hobby, most especially earthquakes and volcanoes.

[freshwest]

12. I put that in bold because *I was impressed.* I'm *not* lecturing you. Goodbye. n/t