Volcano villagers run for their lives
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi has spewed more gas and clouds of hot ash down its slopes, prompting 15,000 villagers to run for their lives, some jumping into rivers to escape the searing heat.
“I thought this is it,” said Udi Sutrisno, who grabbed a bag of clothes and abandoned his beloved farm with his wife and 10-year-old son as sirens wailed a warning. “We ran as fast as we could.”
The volcano has been venting steam and ash for weeks, but yesterday’s burst was the largest yet, sending billowing, dark grey clouds avalanching 5.5kms down the mountain, said Sugiono, a government vulcanologist.
It was one of a series of powerful explosions, some spewing columns of ash 11.5kms high.
Some scientists say a May 27 earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in an area 40 kms (25 miles) south of Merapi may have contributed to the volcano’s volatility in recent weeks.
The mountain’s lava dome has swelled, raising concerns that it could suddenly collapse, sending scalding clouds of fast-moving gas, lava and rocks into still-populated areas.
Yousana Siagian, a senior official at the government’s Vulcanology and Disaster Mitigation Center, said a shallow 4.2-magnitude aftershock yesterday, 27kms south of the peak, may have speeded things along.
Farmers carrying heaps of grass on their head ran down the mountain beneath a rain of ash, as others raced off on motorcycles. Women clutched children as they jumped into trucks and cars, wiping away tears when they reached emergency shelters.
“I only had time to gather clothes for my children,” said Sartini, 24, one of hundreds of people seeking refuge at a makeshift camp set up in a field dotted with Red Cross tents.
Sutomo, a government official at the scene, said 3,500 people had fled Sleman district on Merapi’s southern side. Another 12,000 left their villages in Magelang district on the west.
Authorities had earlier urged residents to evacuate the danger zone near the volcano’s peak, but thousands stayed behind saying they wanted to tend to livestock and crops on the fertile slopes.
Merapi’s last deadly eruption was in 1994, when it sent out a searing gas cloud that burned 60 people to death. About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930.
Indonesia is located along the so-called “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
