Thursday, November 18, 2010

Mount Merapi



Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi (literally Fire Mountain in Indonesian/Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is located approximately 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of Yogyakarta city, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) above sea level.
The name Merapi could be loosely translated as 'Mountain of Fire'. The etymology of the name came from Meru-Api; from the Javanese combined words; Meru means "mountain" refer to mythical mountain of Gods in Hinduism, and api means "fire". Smoke can be seen emerging from the mountaintop at least 300 days a year, and several eruptions have caused fatalities. Hot gas from a large explosion killed 27 people on November 22 in 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it has been designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.
On 25 October 2010 the Indonesian government raised the alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a 20 km (12.5 mile) zone were told to evacuate. Officials said about 500 volcanic earthquakes had been recorded on the mountain over the weekend of 23–24 October, and that the magma had risen to about 1 kilometre (3,300 ft) below the surface due to the seismic activity. On the afternoon of 25 October 2010 Mount Merapi erupted lava from its southern and southeastern slopes.

The eruptions killed at least 18 people a day after the first eruption and reached 273 recently. One of the victims was the village elder, who was also the volcano's spiritual gatekeeper.

It was a tragedy that shocked the entire world especially since an earthquake, which triggered a tsunami, occurred on the same day as Mount Merapi's first eruption and claimed over 500 lives.

An unfortunate event that struck Indonesia and despite the government issuing warnings and alerts did not reach the affected areas in time. In the case of Mount Merapi, the later deceased volcano gatekeeper had refused to leave his home, believing that the volcano would not erupt and villagers had listened to him. In the case of the earthquake in Sumatra, the warnings that the officials had sent out did not reach the village of Mentawai in time.

My personal view on the matter: It truly was a disaster indeed with two tragedies hitting the same country at the same time. However, I feel that the high death toll could have been avoided had the Indonesians had listened to the warnings, especially in regards to the explosion of Mount Merapi, and not take to heart the words of their gatekeeper, who eventually lost his life to the mountain.

References:
2010 eruptions of mount merapi. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi
October 2010 sumatra earthquake and tsunami. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2010_Sumatra_earthquake_and_tsunami
Malik, C. (2010, October 27). Yogyakarta palace claims premonition of mbah maridjan’s death. Retrieved from http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/yogyakarta-palace-claims-premonition-of-mbah-maridjans-death/403500