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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
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 Sat May 13, 2006 6:46 pm Indonesian volcano threatens 20,000 |
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Indonesian volcano threatens 20,000
Small eruptions a sign of worse to come, scientists say
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- More than 20,000 people will need to be evacuated to crowded shelters, one filled to three times its capacity, as experts predicted a massive eruption from one of Indonesia's most dangerous volcanoes.
Mount Merapi has been rumbling for about a month, but an increase in lava flow in the past day has triggered concerns that a nasty eruption could be imminent.
Experts also expressed concern about a lava dome forming atop the volcano.
"You can almost think of it as a cork in a bottle that's being shook up, and the pressurization going on underneath there as the new lava moves up can only mean bad things," said Michael Ramsey, an associate professor in the geology and planetary science department at the University of Pittsburgh.
"Clearly, it looks like it may be getting much worse."
Indonesian authorities ordered the evacuation of thousands of residents near Merapi on Saturday, and the United Nations is predicting that as many as 80,000 people could be displaced by an eruption, depending on which way the lava flows. (Watch as some say they will stay in the volcano's shadow -- 1:16)
"What the officials are saying is that we're going to have a larger eruption than what we're seeing right at the moment," volcanologist Catherine Hickson of Thompson Rivers University in Canada said.
"We call them Merapian-style eruptions because essentially we have a dome that forms and we create these hot pyroclastic flows which kill people. So we actually name a style after this because it is so frequent."
A pyroclastic flow is an avalanche of hot ash, pumice, rock fragments and volcanic gas that can rush down the side of a volcano at a hundred miles per hour.
"Anyone or animal that is caught in its path is immediately, essentially incinerated," she said.
Ratmodo Purbo, head of an observation post on Merapi, told The Associated Press that 27 volcanic tremors were recorded Saturday. The mountain spewed hot ash at least 14 times during the day, and lava flows spread for almost a mile, he said.
About 22,500 people will need to be evacuated to temporary shelters, said Ucip Bahagia, head of one of the local crisis centers.
But the shelters are quickly becoming crowded, he said. The largest, which can hold about 500 people comfortably, was housing more than 1,500 by mid-day, forcing authorities to move people into schools and government buildings.
However, farmers make up most of the population in the central Java province, east of the capital, Jakarta, and some are reluctant to leave their land. Authorities are going from home to home to evacuate people.
With a peak measuring about 2,900 meters, or 9,500 feet, Merapi has been almost continuously active for a decade. (Watch flames and smoke burst from the volcano -- 2:23)
NASA's Earth Observatory says Merapi's slopes are densely populated.
An eruption in 1994 claimed at least 66 lives, and a 1930 eruption killed 1,370, according to NASA's Web site.
Merapi is one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, part of the "Ring of Fire" -- a series of fault lines and volcanoes encircling the Pacific Ocean.
CNN's Kathy Quiano contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/05/13/indonesia.volcano/index.html
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