'Marathon' Merapi Blasts Continue
Candra Malik & Dessy Sagita | October 31, 2010
The Mount Merapi volcano erupting again on Sunday. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry) Yogyakarta. Mount Merapi is still not showing signs that its eruptive phase will end soon, and some of the more than 50,000 people it has displaced have begun wondering when they'll be able to return home.
On Sunday afternoon, one of the world's most active volcanoes erupted again, spewing heat clouds as high as four kilometers that went off into various directions, unlike their usual southward course.
This came after the calm that followed its biggest eruption this week early just after midnight on Saturday, which caused panic in the streets of Yogyakarta some 30 kilometers away and prompted officials to re-evacuate those who had returned home.
Elsewhere, reports said at least two people were killed in the mass panic that ensued after Saturday's eruption, bringing the death toll to 38. One of them, said Widi Sutikno, head of the Merapi Disaster Mitigation Command Post, was a motorist hit by a truck as dense volcanic ash cut visibility to only two meters.
Surono, head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency (PVMBG), said the danger was far from over but assured that the deadly superheated clouds would not reach the outer ring of the disaster zone. The maximum radius of the head clouds glide is 10 kilometers from the mountain's peak, he said.
"Stay calm and wear a mask. Mount Merapi will cough again. The eruption is like a marathon, not a sprint. Panicking would only could cause injuries," he told the Jakarta Globe.
People living in the shelters, though, have become increasingly uneasy and wanted to go home.
"I don't know how we are going to live like this, it's been almost a week and it's acutely uncomfortable," Sumiatun, a resident of Pangukrejo hamlet, Cangkringan, Sleman, said on Sunday.
Pangukrejo, located only 1.5 kilometers from Kinahrejo, the most affected area, was severely damaged by the eruption.
Sumiatun has relocated twice since the Tuesday eruption. She was initially evacuated to Umbulharjo shelter but she had to move again after another major eruption damaged the shelter.
She and more than 2,500 evacuees had to once again flee to another shelter in Wukirsari village in the Imogiri district.
"But we've learned to adapt somehow, and the aid is getting better here," she said.
Hartati, 27, said many people in the shelter could not wait to go home. However, she said, none of the officials could answer their question on when they would be able to go home.
She said in 2004 she had to stay in the shelter for more than two months, and three days in 2006. "Nobody can tell how long we're going to have to stay here."
Badrut Tamam, a volunteer from the Indonesian Boy Scouts' Disaster Alert Unit, said volunteers had made arrangements for the villagers' longer stays.
"We made sure logistics and other necessities are sufficient so they won't go home," he said.
Meanwhile, drug stores in the area are overwhelmed with demand for face masks to protect against the volcano's ash.
"After the Saturday eruption, everybody was looking for masks, we ran out of stock within few hours," Hasan, a staff at Kalasan drug store Yogyakarta, said on Sunday. "I have called all suppliers I know and managed to get a few hundred masks but they were sold out within half an hour."
Sumarno, a Yogyakarta resident, said he had been trying to buy masks for his family since Saturday but most drug stores said they were out of stock. "Some volunteers are giving away face mask for free, but I can't take more for my family, it was only enough for me," he said.
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Monday, November 01, 2010
Grimsvotn Volcano, Iceland - John Seach
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Scientists stumble upon rare volcano
Scientists have discovered an extinct volcano in deep sea off the far west coast of Australia.
The cone-shaped volcano, which measures 800m across and 200m high, was found 2km beneath the ocean's surface and 100 nautical miles offshore in a protected area of the Great Australian Bight.
The researchers said it was a lucky find, Adelaide Now reports.
Scientists on board the Southern Surveyor came across the volcano – now named "Anna's Pimple" - while mapping a seabed in the Benthic Protection Zone.
The volcano was named after a university student on board the ship.
South Australian Research and Development Institute chief scientist Dr David Currie said the find was exciting because the area was always thought to have a flat sea floor.
"To find something like an extinct volcano in the middle, poking out of a sea of soft sediments, is pretty remarkable," he said.
"And the fact it's pretty deep and probably never been fished, or never been touched since it was created (48 million years ago) is pretty amazing.
"It might support some interesting beasts."
The volcano's location within the protected zone means that animals are protected from trawling and other destructive human activities.
It also means that the volcano is probably home to some unique creatures with areas nearby already returning samples of strange animals, such as the "brittle star"— a starfish-like creature.
Dr Currie is hopeful about what the scientists will discover.
"There's just some weird and wonderful biodiversity," he said.
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