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Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi (literally Fire Mountain in Indonesian and Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is located approximately 28 km north of Yogyakarta city which has a population of 2.4 million, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1,700 m above sea level.
Smoke can often be seen emerging from the mountaintop, and several eruptions have caused fatalities. A pyroclastic flow from a large explosion killed 27 people on 22 November 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it was designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.
On the afternoon of 25 October 2010, Merapi erupted on its southern and southeastern slopes. A total of 353 people were killed over the next month, while 350,000 were forced to flee their homes; most of the damage was done by pyroclastic flows, while heavy rain on 4 November created lahars which caused further damage. Most of the fissures had ceased erupting by 30 November, and four days later the official threat level was lowered. Merapi's characteristic shape was changed during the eruptions, with its height lowered 38 m to 2,930 m.
More information: Global Volcanism Program
Since 2010, Merapi had experienced several smaller eruptions, most noticeably two phreatic eruptions which occurred on 18 November 2013 and 11 May 2018. The first and larger of these, caused by a combination of rainfall and internal activity, saw smoke issued up to a height of 2,000 m. There have been several small eruptions since the beginning of 2020, which are of great interest to volcanologists.
The name Merapi is a compound of Sanskrit Meru meaning mountain with Javanese api which means fire. Thus Merapi can be loosely translated as Mountain of Fire or Fire Mountain.
In late October 2010, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, Geological Agency (CVGHM), (Indonesian language-Pusat Vulkanologi & Mitigasi Bencana Geologi, Badan Geologi-PVMBG), reported that a pattern of increasing seismicity from Merapi had begun to emerge in early September.
Observers at Babadan 7 km west and Kaliurang 8 km south of the mountain reported hearing an avalanche on 12 September 2010.
On 13 September 2010, white plumes were observed rising 800 m above the crater. Lava dome inflation, detected since March, increased from background levels of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm per day to a rate of 11 mm per day on 16 September.
On 19 September 2010, earthquakes continued to be numerous, and the next day CVGHM raised the Alert Level to 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Lava from Mount Merapi in Central Java began flowing down the Gendol River on 23-24 October signalling the likelihood of an imminent eruption.
On 25 October 2010, the Indonesian government raised the alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level (4) and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a 10 km zone were told to evacuate. The evacuation orders affected at least 19,000 people; however, the number that complied at the time remained unclear to authorities. Officials said about 500 volcanic earthquakes had been recorded on the mountain over the weekend of 23-24 October, and that the magma had risen to about 1 km below the surface due to the seismic activity.
After a period of multiple eruptions considered to exceed the intensity and duration of those in 1872 on 10 November 2010 the intensity and frequency of eruptions was noticed to subside.
By this time, 153 people had been reported to have been killed and 320,000 were displaced. Later the eruptive activities again increased requiring a continuation of the Level 4 alert and continued provision of exclusion zones around the volcano. By 18 November the death toll had increased to 275. The toll had risen to 324 by 24 November and Syamsul Maarif, head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) explained that the death toll had risen after a number of victims succumbed to severe burns and more bodies were found on the volcano's slopes.
In the aftermath of the more intensive eruptive activities in late November, Yogyakarta's Disaster Management Agency reported that there were about 500 reported cases of eruption survivors in Sleman district suffering from minor to severe psychological problems, and about 300 cases in Magelang. By 3 December the death toll had risen to 353.
Merapi is very important to Javanese, especially those living around its crater. As such, there are many myths and beliefs attached to Merapi.
More information: ESA
rather than within themselves
should carefully look at the volcanoes!
All the power is within you!
And all you have to do is take it out!
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