The one that's closest to us -- Mt. Merapi (intro)

Hi to all!

Firstly we shall look at Mt Merapi in Indonesia... which actually erupted last year.

Some statistics of the volcano:

• Height: 2,914 metres
• Location: Central Java, indonesia --> part of the Ring of Fire
• Type of volcano: stratovolcanoes
• Type of eruption: peleean (lateral blast)
  
  
  
  

Mt. merapi "innocently" spewing ash and dust particles (pre-eruption)

Reasons why it is so dangerous (outlines):

• Periodic collapse of the lava dome results in the formation of nuee ardentes (more than any volcanoes on earth) and lahars --> main hazards
  
• Close proximity to densely populated areas -- 30km from Yogyakarta; rural villages located right at the foot of Merapi --> hence the hazards affect people DIRECTLY
  
• Mindset of the people - their unwillingness to evacuate despite the warnings issued by government

Lahars and pyroclastic flows burying a village

collapse of lava dome -- formation of nuee ardentes

** for the next post we shall look at the formation of Mt Merapi and take a closer look at the more recent eruption (ie 2006)

stay tune(:!