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Mount Merapi still a threat, erupts again
Mount Merapi spewed hot clouds of ash down its slopes on Thursday in its latest eruption, but smaller in scale than that of two days before, which as of Thursday killed at least 33 people
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ount Merapi spewed hot clouds of ash down its slopes on Thursday in its latest eruption, but smaller
in scale than that of two days before, which as of Thursday killed at least 33 people.
The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) reported that the world’s most active volcano began erupting again at around 4 p.m. Thursday.
“It’s not as big as the first eruption with the clouds traveling down a distance of 3 kilometers,” said the center’s head, Surono, on Thursday.
When the volcano erupted for the first time, the hot clouds went some 5 kilometers down its slopes, devastating at least three villages, including the home of its spiritual guardian Mbah Maridjan in Kinahrejo village in Cangkringan district, Sleman regency, in Yogyakarta.
Head of the Yogyakarta Volcanic Technology Development and Research (BPPTK), Subandrio, said Thursday that Merapi had shown different characteristics compared to previous eruptions.
He said Merapi used to be a non-explosive volcano, which led to slow eruptions that expelled lava as happened in 2006.
However, the volcano has developed more explosive characteristics, leading to direct explosions
of hot ashes when it erupted on Tuesday afternoon, with the vertical plume reaching 1.5 kilometers into the sky — the first time that this had occurred with Merapi, he added.
Subandrio said his team would continue to monitor Merapi’s activity to determine the consistency of its new characteristics. It is still on top alert, meaning more eruptions are very likely.
On Tuesday, Merapi erupted only one day after it was put on top alert status, while in the previous eruption in 2006, a slow eruption took place several days after the volcano was declared ready to erupt.
Twenty-one victims were laid to rest in a mass burial at Sidorejo village in Umbulharjo subdistrict, Cangkringan on Thursday, led by Sleman Regent Sri Purnomo.
Five other victims, including Merapi’s spiritual guardian Mbah Maridjan, were buried in a graveyard in Srunen village and in separate places by their families.
Some people present at the burial could not help crying. Others fainted when ambulances carrying the remains of the victims, mostly from the worst-hit Kinahrejo village, arrived at the graveyard.
“I do hope they will be Merapi’s last victims. We have to learn a lesson from this. We cannot fight nature, but we can avoid disaster,” Sri Purnomo said at the funeral.
Some residents said they were already missing the figure of Mbah Maridjan, who died in the eruption.
“He had been our protector,” said Ramidjo, Maridjan’s relative, adding that he plans to move to a safer place after the eruption.
Emergency shelters in different sites across Sleman regency were overcrowded with residents, leaving some who did not get space in the shelters ending up resting on the terraces of houses.
Surono urged the residents to stay in the shelters since the volcano was still on top alert status.
He warned that a tectonic earthquake, which struck near the volcano, such as the small 4-magnitude quake that hit Bantul regency on Thursday afternoon, could lead to an increase in Merapi’s volcanic
activity.
