Posted on 05/15/2006 1:40:32 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia - Mount Merapi erupted violently Monday, sending searing gas clouds and burning rocks down its scorched flanks and threatening villagers who refused to leave because of ancient mystical beliefs.
The activity triggered renewed panic and fresh evacuations of some closest to the crater, but others ignored urgent warnings to leave.
The volcano in the heart of densely populated Java Island had been rumbling for weeks, spewing ash high into the air and pushing lava to the surface, where it has formed a large unstable dome.
On Saturday, authorities declared the highest danger alert, triggering mandatory evacuations for some 4,500 residents.
A sharp increase in activity Monday saw near hourly surges of clouds containing volcanic gas, rock fragments and other debris that tumbled as far as 2.5 miles down the mountain's western slopes — twice as far as a day earlier, volcanologists said.
"I am panicking this time," said Katimi, a mother of three and one of thousands who boarded vans and trucks to seek shelter in mosques, government buildings and schools. "Merapi appears angry," she said.
Hospitals and clinics were preparing for the worst.
Merapi, the most active of 129 live volcanoes in Indonesia, sent out a deadly cloud of gas that incinerated 60 people in 1994, and about 1,300 people died in a 1930 eruption.
"We are prepared for some of the things that we may deal with, (from our experience) in the previous eruption in 1994 — treating burn injuries caused by the hot clouds, and also treating broken bones," said Ning, the head of a local medical center. Like many Indonesians, he uses one name.
The clouds of volcanic ash, gas and debris, known to experts as pyroclastic flows, are the biggest threat to residents, who are drawn to Merapi's slopes because its fertile volcanic soil makes for bumper crops.
"They are like a glowing avalanche that just incinerate everything in their path," said Lynton Jaques, from Australia's geoscience agency. "There is a real risk for people living on its flanks."
Scientists warn the unstable lava dome could collapse, sending out a deadly cloud of gas like the one in 1994.
Residents call the clouds "Wedhus Gembel," or "shaggy sheep clouds," because they resemble tightly curled balls of wool as they avalanche down the mountain at speeds of more than 60 mph.
Widi Sutikno, the official coordinating the government's emergency operation, commended those who recognized the danger and left Monday.
"I guess they didn't want to die after all," he said.
Yet about 200 villagers living within the danger zone refused to budge.
An 80-year-old man appointed by the nearby royal court as the volcano's spiritual guardian said he was not leaving, even though his house is within the mandatory evacuation zone. He said he believed the spirits that watch over the volcano would let him know if he was in danger.
"There is no risk," Maridjan said outside his home four miles from the crater. "I am still waiting here."
Maridjan was given the official title of "key holder of Mount Merapi" by the late king of the nearby court city, Jogjakarta. He leads yearly ceremonies when rice and flowers are thrown into the crater to appease spirits that he and most nearby villagers believe live over the mountain.
Maridjan's refusal to leave is angering local authorities in charge of evacuation efforts. They say he is setting a bad example and stopping other villagers from leaving.
"Only God knows what will happen. We can only ask for his protection," said Riskani, as her 8-year-old son played with toy trucks in a dusting of volcanic ash that fell on the village Monday.
"If it gets worse, we will leave. But for now, we are staying in this village," she said.
Although most Indonesians are Muslim, many also follow animist beliefs and worship ancient spirits. At full moon, they may trek to the crater's rim to throw in rice, jewelry and live animals.
Some 18,000 people on the mountain's lowest slopes have not been ordered to leave, but could be in coming days.
A pyroclastic flow, the deadly combination of super heated gas, ash and debris, known locally as 'shaggy sheep clouds' barrels down the Mount Merapi volcano Monday May 15, 2006 as seen from Slemen village, outside Yogyakarta, the capital of Central Java province, Indonesia. Clouds of deadly hot ash, rock fragments and volcanic gas surged down Mount Merapi's slopes Monday, as activity at the towering volcano intensified to its highest level yet.(AP Photo/Ed Wray)
Allah is angered.
An Indonesian woman walks up a road made white by volcanic ash which hit the village Sunday night in Babedan village, about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) away from Mount Merapi Monday, May 15, 2006 in Yogyakarta, the capital of Central Java province, Indonesia. Clouds of deadly hot ash, rock fragments and volcanic gas surged down Mount Merapi's slopes Monday, as activity at the towering volcano intensified to its highest level yet. (AP Photo/Ed Wray)
An Indonesian man knocks volcanic ash off of his vegetables after they hit his village Sunday night in Babedan about 3 km (1.8 miles) away from Merapi Monday May 15, 2006 in Yogyakarta, the capital of Central Java province, Indonesia. Clouds of deadly hot ash, rock fragments and volcanic gas surged down Mount Merapi's slopes Monday, as activity at the towering volcano intensified to its highest level yet.(AP Photo/Ed Wray)
Guess they don't have a "Superdome" where they can hole up until all this is over.
How in the world can lava be oozing down a mountain and hot boulders and ash blow into the sky and some folks say, "Not yet?"
A policeman guarding a checkpoint leading to the upper villages on Indonesia's Merapi volcano looks at a giant cloud of hot gas and debris spewed out by the erupting volcano Monday May 15, 2006 in Slemen village, outside Yogyakarta, the capital of Central Java province, Indonesia. Clouds of deadly hot ash, rock fragments and volcanic gas surged down Mount Merapi's slopes Monday, as activity at the towering volcano intensified to its highest level yet.(AP Photo/Ed Wray)
I heard that those who had not left were waiting for some kind of "sign" Hell, I see a pyroclastic flow, that's a good enough sign for me.But maybe that's just me?LOL!
My preciousssssssssssss!
Hey go for it!.... Isn't there a full moon soon?
Frankly, I do not recall that when I last read the Koran that Mohammad said "Stay On The Mountain", but if he did, maybe we could preach that to the others ~ get them to visit Indonesia or something.
Maybe they should toss in all the Imams too.
In a lot of the Third World, both Muslim and Christian, the "official" religion is a thin veneer over ancient beliefs...in a lot of South America that is Catholic, there's a heck of a lot going on religiously that has nothing to do with Catholicism and has a lot to do with old Inca beliefs, what have you...in many cases the Church basically adapt and co-opt local beliefs.
That eliminated the threat that the Inca priests might foment a rebellion.
Don't tempt the Lord, eh?
"There is no risk," Maridjan said outside his home four miles from the crater. "I am still waiting here."
It's the Indonesian version of Harry Truman-remember the old coot at Mt. St. Helens?
A volcanologist observes Mount Merapi as it releases a huge cloud of hot gas and ash near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, May 15, 2006. (Crack Palinggi/Reuters)
In this picture provided by the Ecuadorean Geophysics Institute shows a view of the Tungurahua Volcano during an eruption in Tungurahua, Ecuador, about 135 kilometers (84 miles) south of Quito in this May 12, 2006 photo. The volcano registered 133 explosions of vapor and gas between Wednesday and Friday, Ecuador's Geophysics Institute reported. (AP Photo/ James Cowlyn/Instituto Geofisico, HO)
Mount Merapi releases a huge cloud of hot gas, as seen from Purwobinangun village, near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, May 15, 2006. REUTERS/Slamet Riadi
I'd like to have been standing there(a little closer than he is), up wind, and near enough to feel the "Boom" and "Rumble"....
Hey go for it!.... Isn't there a full moon soon?"
Full moon was here at my house Friday night last.
I hope the Sierra Club and Greenpeace go protest the volcano and all it's pyroclastic pollutants.
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