mount merapi case study

indonesia’s tectonic setting

• island arc formed by the subduction of the indo-australian plate beneath the Eurasian plate

• 129 active volcanoes in indonesia

• subduction zone of teh indo-austalian and eurasian plates

• island of java in indonesia

• erupted 66 times since the 16th Century

• smoke can be seen emerging form teh top of teh volcano 300 days in the year

what type of voolcano is merapi?

• 9551 ft tall

• composite volcano

• active

• andesitic lava

• erruptions occey thet are usually violent and lava and ash are present

• until about 10,000 years ago, eruptions have been effusive and lava was basaltic

• between 25-26th octiver 2010, Mt Merapi erupted 3 times

why do people love near mount Merapi?

• the volcanic weathered lava is very fertike, so it yields excellent crops

• indonesian culture and heritage is linked to volcanic activity

• mine sulphur from the sides of teh mountains - income

• geothermal energy is being developed as indonesia develops, meaning more people are arriving in thes areas to take advantage of work

• the volcano brings in jobs in teh form of the toursim industry.

repsonses

• thousands were evacuated from a 20km radius around teh slopes of teh volcano

• evacuation zone in place until 29th october 2010

• emergency shelters ad to e moved to 15km away

• the danger area was extended to 20km from teh mountain and 278,000 people living in the area had to flee their homes

• 210 evacuation centres were set up either as tents, in schools, churches, stadiums or government offices.

• 1600 people, either volenteers or military were part of teh national aid response

• international aid was offered from organisations such as the red cross

• evacuation centres were overcrowded leading to poor sanitation, no privacy and serious disease risk

• man farmers lost their livelihoods

• lava flows closed many roads and others were closed off for saftey reasons.

• a conservation area has been set up around the volcano where it is unsafe to live

• 2681 people had to be moved to new safer houses permanently

• the government is making money available to farmers to help replace their livestock

impacts

• column of smoke rose vertically to 1.5km

• lahars

• 10 people were found dead - due to burns and respiratory problems

• lava ejection with hot ash clouds fell down the slope and travelled 3km

• ash fell more than 30km away

• 200,000 people were made homelesss and 320000 people were displaced

• planes were grounded in western australia because of damage too crops

• sulphur dioxide was blown across indonesia as far south as australia

• ash from the volcano eventually led too more fertile soils in the area

• water supplies were contaminated with acidic lava and ash