Volcano finally cooling down

The volcanic eruptions of mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes and the youngest of the group in South Java and is located in the subduction zone in Indonesia. The seismic activity increased in September and has increased in November. This eruption is one of the largest since 1870s volcano blast leading to a vast devastation. Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcano’s present in the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’.

The alert level of volcano eruption was the highest that is level 4(0-4) and more than 350,000 people were affected by evacuation orders. The volcanic eruption started on 25th October with major eruptions around 3 pm and they are continuing since then. On 30th October ash fell more than 30kms away from the volcano.

Major airlines remained suspended due to volcanic activity .On 3rd November the eruptions continued for an hour and ash rising up to 5kms in the sky. The evacuation distance was extended to 20kms and the level continued to be level 4.Finally, on 9th November the intensity lessened and more bodies were recovered.

The blast on November 5 “was the biggest in at least a century “as quoted by Gede Swantika, a senior volcanologist. The Smoke went up to 33,000ft in the air. The death toll till 11th November was 194 but is expected to reach 273 up to 19th November. The major problems faced by the people there were problems like respiratory, heart attacks, hypertension and headache.

Mount Merapi is scrutinized by the as Seismic examining has started from 1924 and some of the monitoring stations are present since the very beginning. This makes Mount Merapi a very sensitive area and a spot of very close scrutiny as it’s a very active volcano monitoring program. 6,410 hectares of land around this mountain was established as a national park.