Indonesia Volcano: What We Know About Mount Merapi

An eruption at Indonesia's most active volcano killed 23 people.A furious volcanic eruption at Mount Merapi killed 23 hikers in Indonesia and sent at least a dozen more missing on Sunday.

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Hot ash clouds sprawled over several kilometers, blanketing nearby villages with volcanic debris.

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More than 50 climbers were evacuated on Sunday and many were treated for burns. Indonesia's Geology and Volcanology Research Agency has warned the public to keep at least three kilometers away from the crater's mouth, and two climbing routes have been cordoned off.

Videos emerging on social media show climbers caked with volcanic dust being rescued and evacuated.

Dubbed "the mountain that makes fire" in Javanese, Mount Merapi is Indonesia's most active volcano.

Where is Mount Merapi?

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ocean's 'Ring of Fire' — a tectonic belt home to two-thirds of all volcanoes worldwide. Indonesia alone has nearly 130 active volcanoes.

Why are earthquakes common in the Pacific Ring of Fire?

Mount Merapi is located north of Central Java's capital Yogyakarta, a densely populated area. One of the younger volcanoes in the area, Merapi dominates local landscape and culture.

The conical volcano's peak reaches 2,891 meters (9,484 feet). Around 250,000 people live within its 10-kilometer radius.

Why is Merapi risky?

The majority of people living near Merapi practice agriculture — the volcanic ash makes the land fertile and suitable for farming. Although the active volcano poses a severe disaster risk, people refuse to leave the mountains.

Merapi is located in a region with high seismic activity, making it prone to earthquakes that can cause sudden eruptions, piling one calamity on top of the other.

Further, Merapi is a stratovolcano, a type of volcano built up of many layers of lava and other volcanic materials. Gas between these layers can cause intense swelling and sudden collapse. This can create an expulsion of hot gasses and debris that flow forcefully downhill, causing mass destruction.

Merapi has erupted regularly since 1548. One lava dome — a protrusion on Earth from which lava erupts — on its southwest side has produced a total of 91 avalanches.

The growth and collapse of this lava dome led to the formation of a steep side on Merapi. Eruptions over the past two decades have also been accompanied by vicious pyroclastic flows — fast-moving avalanches of hot gas, slurry mudflow, debris, water and other volcanic matter that flow along the volcano's flanks.

Merapi is characteristic of these, producing more dangerous ash avalanches than any other volcano in the world.

These flows have resulted in many fatalities in Merapi, as thousands of people live in the villages on this slope. It has also destroyed expanses of agricultural land.

History of eruptions in Merapi

In the past, small eruptions only occurred every few years in Merapi. The frequency of these eruptions has picked up in recent decades, resulting in many fatalities.

One of the biggest eruptions was recorded in 2010, killing over 350 people. In 2006, tens of thousands of people were evacuated after an eruption resulted in a very powerful pyroclastic flow. The flow started after strong earthquakes rocked the Sumatran coast.

Another pyroclastic flow in Merapi killed 41 people in 1994. The effect of the eruption was observed for years after.

Edited by: Clare Roth

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 05, 2023 07:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).