(RepublicanNews.org) – The most eruptive volcano in Indonesia, Mount Merapi, spewed on Saturday, sending avalanches of superheated gas clouds and molten lava down its slopes and prompting officials to cease tourist and mining operations.
Around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Yogyakarta, an old hub of Javanese culture and the seat of ancient royal dynasties, lies a peak with an elevation of 2,968 meters (9,737 feet). Close to a quarter of a million people call the area surrounding the volcano home, just around 10 kilometers (6 miles) away.
Many settlements were covered in ash, and the sun was obscured all day because of the eruption. Thankfully, there are no known casualties.
Hot smoke covers the region around a mountain in Indonesia labeled a “doomsday volcano,” suggesting that it is perpetually on the verge of eruption.
According to Abdul Muhari, a National Disaster Management Agency spokesman, a 328-foot-tall column of heated clouds formed as the volcano prepared to blow.
Hot ash and a combination of rock, lava, and gas from Merapi on Java’s heavily populated island traveled more than 4 miles from its source.
According to Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center Director Hanik Humaida, this was the most significant lava flow from Merapi since the warning level was increased to its second highest in November 2020.
She added that residents on Merapi’s slopes had been warned to evacuate to a location at least 4.3 miles from the crater’s entrance due to the risk of lava flows.
Merapi has regularly erupted with lava and gas clouds for the last several years, making it the most active of Indonesia’s more than 120 active volcanoes. During its most recent eruption in 2010, 347 people lost their lives, and 20,000 more were forced to flee their homes.
Indonesia, an island of 270 million people, is located on the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean, making it vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
The tallest volcano on Java island, Mount Semeru, erupted in December 2021, killing 48 people and leaving another 36 missing.
A powerful eruption has the potential to blanket the planet in volcanic winter for three years.
A severe decrease in temperature might result from this, leading to worldwide food shortages, inflation, and more climatic variations that would cost the globe about $2.5 trillion.
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