Replies

1) That page does not claim to be comprehensive list of volcanoes in Indonesia, and that list has no relation to whether any of the volcanoes are active or not.

2) If you had bothered to actually read the page you’re linking to, you would have noticed that it states:

“The Volcanological Survey of Indonesia (VSI) now operates a network of 64 volcano observatories continuously monitoring 59 volcanoes.”

and

“Indonesia leads the world in many volcano statistics. It has the largest number of historically active volcanoes (76),”

2) The ACTUAL list of volcanoes in Indonesia (which have erupted in the Holocene, that is, roughly the last 10,000 years) is 143 (Note that Narcondum and Barren Island are part of the same geological origin as Indonesian volcanoes, but are actually Indian-controlled islands.)

http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/region.cfm?rnum=06&rpage=list

“The Global Volcanism Program database for Volcanoes of Indonesia currently contains 145 Holocene volcanoes and 6 Pleistocene volcanoes with thermal activity, sorted below in geographical (volcano number) order. Descriptions of the various “Volcano Type” and “Volcano Status” designations can be found on the Volcano Data Criteria page.”

3) The Indonesians have a pretty horrid and painful webpage for geological monitoring. Along the right side, there is (surprise surprise) a list of 18 volcanoes along with a color-coded alert status. Many of the volcanoes on the list were given their alert status in 2008, 2007, or 2006. Only two volcanoes have had their status changed in 2010, and none within the last month.

http://portal.vsi.esdm.go.id/joomla/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

4) The lesson here is don’t rely on incompetent, practically non-existent news “wires” run by the Moonies (UPI).

5) There’s only one volcano with anything resembling a significant eruption in Indonesia at the moment, Batu Tara, and it’s been erupting for a long time now.

6) There’s nothing remotely unusual about volcanic activity in Indonesia, or the world, which is what I suspect certain people are desperately trying to find.