Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Quakes prompt volcano alert
News.com.au ^ | April 15, 2005

Posted on 04/15/2005 12:34:03 AM PDT by bd476

INDONESIAN scientists have placed 11 volcanoes under close watch after a series of powerful quakes awoke intense subterranean forces and increased the chances of a major eruption.

As tens of thousands spent a third night in temporary camps after fleeing the slopes of Mount Talang on Sumatra island, where hot ash has been raining down since Monday, more volcanoes began rumbling into life. Late Wednesday Anak Krakatau - the "child" of the legendary Krakatoa that blew itself apart in 1883 in one of the worst-ever natural disasters - was put on alert status amid warnings of poisonous gas emissions.

No one lives on Krakatoa, a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, but the peak is a popular tourist spot, attracting both Indonesian and foreign day trippers.

A similar warning was earlier issued for Tangkuban Perahu, near the west Java city of Bandung. Next week the city will host more than 50 heads of state, including China's president, at a summit of Asian and African leaders.

Advertisement: Isya Nur Ahmad Dana of Indonesia's Vulcanology Office said Mount Merapi, 70km north of the Sumatran city of Padang, had been on alert since last August, but along with seven other peaks was now under closer watch.

"The status of Tangkuban Perahu in west Java and Krakatau in the Sunda Strait have both been raised from 'normal' to 'alert' on Wednesday following an observed increase in volcanic activities," Dana said.

Amid growing fears of an imminent disaster in the wake of recent powerful earthquakes and last year's devastating tsunami disaster, the government has urged people to remain calm.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono travelled to an area near Talang, 25km east of Padang, to meet some of the more than 20,000 people who have fled villages on the fertile slopes of the smoking peak.

His deputy Yusuf Kalla also warned people living near other active volcanoes to take precautions and urged local officials to make contingency plans in anticipation of an eruption.

"We call on the people to really be alert," he said.

Indonesia has 130 active volcanoes, forming part of the Pacific Ring of Fire - an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from quake-prone Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

The archipelago nation's proximity to the junction of three continental plates, which jostle under immense pressure, makes it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and eruptions.

A massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake on December 26 triggered the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people. A second quake of 8.7 on the Richter scale from the same faultline killed at least 670 people last month.

Scientists have warned of a possible third disaster, either a quake or an eruption from a so-called super volcano, such as the giant crater in which Lake Toba in Sumatra is located, where increased activity has also been recorded.

Mount Talang, a 2599m volcano that last erupted in 2003, remains on standby for eruption with scientists unable to determine if the peak was beginning to calm down.

"Our team is still studying the data on site and we cannot yet say whether the activities of Mount Talang have slowed down or energy is building up for a bigger eruption," Dana said.

But he said there were no immediate moves to evacuate people around Tangkuban Perahu, which straddles the territories of two districts and the city of Bandung, with a total population of some 7.5 million people.

One prominent Indonesian seismologist meanwhile expressed doubt that the volcanic activity was linked to recent tremors as quakes were linked to tectonic friction while eruptions were due to an accumulation of molten magma.

"Theoretically, it can happen and there is a relationship, but the correlation is not 100 percent and it rarely occurs," said Sarwidi, head of seismology studies centre at Indonesia's Islamic University in Yogyakarta.

In the latest earth tremor, a 5.8-magnitude quake was recorded on Sumatra island, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: earthquake; indonesia; jakarta; krakatoa; quakes; talang; toba; volcano; volcanology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-51 last
To: bd476

nope


41 posted on 04/15/2005 12:15:21 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: bd476

Nooooo...I missed that big, bad 2.5. lol


42 posted on 04/15/2005 12:21:49 PM PDT by lainie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]


43 posted on 04/15/2005 12:26:27 PM PDT by bd476
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: lainie; BurbankKarl
Historical seismicity:

Post 43
44 posted on 04/15/2005 12:28:27 PM PDT by bd476
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: bd476

Is Tambora or Toba in Sumatra?


45 posted on 04/15/2005 1:10:34 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan ("If Stabenow were any bigger a roadblock, she could halt traffic on all of I-75.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bd476

I missed it, I was watching the quake on Wall Street!


46 posted on 04/15/2005 2:00:54 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (This tagline no longer operative....floated away in the flood of 2005 ,)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Strategerist
Fi, Fi, Fo, Fum..I smelll a.....gold bug.

Gold has been sideways trading for a while stuck in a range. What she needs is a good dose of petrol-fueled inflation for a good bullish jolt.

47 posted on 04/15/2005 7:46:47 PM PDT by M. Espinola (Freedom is never free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Dan from Michigan
Tambora is located on one of the lesser Indonesian islands, called Sumbawa Island.

Indonesian volcano map

48 posted on 04/15/2005 7:53:24 PM PDT by M. Espinola (Freedom is never free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: BurbankKarl
"Krakatoa 2 is coming!"

With all the earthquake activity in Indonesia, it would not be in the least surprising.

49 posted on 04/15/2005 7:55:09 PM PDT by M. Espinola (Freedom is never free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
Do mobil homes still cause tornadoes?

He he he. Thanks for the early morning laugh.

50 posted on 04/16/2005 6:37:06 AM PDT by Lijahsbubbe (Expedients are for the hour, but principles are for the ages.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: bd476
Please add me to the Earth Shaking "PING" list.

Thanks!

51 posted on 04/22/2005 2:44:14 PM PDT by Tom602 (Democrats: Against the death penalty for convicted murderers and for killing the unborn & disabled.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-51 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson