Living in the shadows of active volcanoes is like sitting on a time bomb, especially when one of them is called Fire Mountain or Gunung Merapi in Indonesian language. Merapi is one of some 500 volcanoes in Indonesia, of which at least 129 are considered active. It lies in one of Indonesia’s most densely populated regions, and is only a few kilometres from the sultanate of Yogyakarta. Despite frequently giving out smoke, the mountain still attracts hikers and climbers. It takes 5 hours to climb up and 3 hours to return
Merapi is the youngest in a group of volcanoes in southern Java. It is situated at a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian Plate is sliding beneath the Eurasian Plate.
Typically, small eruptions occur every two to three years, and larger ones every 10-15 years or so. Notable eruptions, often causing many deaths, have occurred in 1006, 1786, 1822, 1872 (the most violent eruption in recent history), and 1930—when thirteen villages were destroyed and 1400 people killed by pyroclastic flows.
Posted under Yogyakarta
This post was written by admin on July 12, 2009
