25 Volcanoes on Alert/Watch status in Indonesia

cherryghost

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/25-volcanoes-showing-abnormal-activity-presidential-aide/491341

Padang, West Sumatra. Twenty-five volcanoes in Indonesia are now showing abnormal activity or have been put on alert or watch status, presidential special aide Andi Arief said here on Saturday.

“According to official data, 25 volcanoes are now under alert or watch status and they must be given priority with regard to disaster mitigation planning at district or city levels,” he said at a workshop on journalists’ role in disaster management.

He said in West Sumatra there were two volcanoes that need to be closely watched, namely Mount Marapi and Mount Talang, as they are still under alert status.

Mount Marapi is located in Agam and Tanahdatar districts and rises 2891 meters above sea level, and Mount Talang (2597 meters above sea level) in Solok district was located around 40 kilometers from the provincial capital Padang.

Apart from the two volcanoes, the government and regional disaster management agencies were also giving priority attention to Mount Papandayan in West Java, Mount Karangetan and Lokon in North Sulawesi, Mount Ijen in East Java, Mount Gamalama in North Maluku, Mount Krakatau in Banten and Lampung and Mount Lewoloto in East Nusa Tenggara.

He said “it is not impossible that volcanoes that are now still normal could change to become abnormal due to earthquakes that have happened to trigger magma in the mountains to increase their activity, and therefore alertness and readiness of the people must continue to be maintained.”

Andi said earthquakes below five on the Richter Scale could trigger magma in the volcanoes to rise and so people must not only be alert over big but also small tremors.

The 4.4 magnitude earthquake like the one in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, is one of the examples, where people had never predicted before that it could happen there, he said.

“The small magnitude quake is now being studied by researchers with regard to minimizing the damage in case an eruption happens in the country as there are a lot of volcanoes in Indonesia,” he said.

Something to watch over the coming months. 7 were on alert status only one week ago so the huge jump in numbers are mainly down to the swarms of quakes around the region.

Of course all this could be leading up to a bigger quake.... only time will tell.

Some of the notable volcanoes currently on alert includes the Ijen Volcano, which last had a major eruption in 1817, destroying many villages and woodland.

The Gamalama Volcano last majorly erupted in the early 80's when tens of thousands of people were evacuated from nearby towns and villages. Pastures and woodland were mainly destroyed, however older eruptions have not been recorded on this and the severity of what may come is largely unknown.

Mount Krakatau (Krakatoa)... need I say more? :P One of the biggest eruptions ever in recorded history, there has been very small swarms recorded at the islands lately. The historic eruption that took temperatures down worldwide for years after has started to show similar pattern symptoms prior to the 1883 eruption. The volcano has been spewing ash now and again since 2010.

Quakes and eruptions are not uncommon in the area but 25 on alert/watch? That's pretty 'abnormal'

cyclops999

Enderman wrote: »

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/25-volcanoes-showing-abnormal-activity-presidential-aide/491341



Something to watch over the coming months. 7 were on alert status only one week ago so the huge jump in numbers are mainly down to the swarms of quakes around the region.

Of course all this could be leading up to a bigger quake.... only time will tell.

Some of the notable volcanoes currently on alert includes the Ijen Volcano, which last had a major eruption in 1817, destroying many villages and woodland.

The Gamalama Volcano last majorly erupted in the early 80's when tens of thousands of people were evacuated from nearby towns and villages. Pastures and woodland were mainly destroyed, however older eruptions have not been recorded on this and the severity of what may come is largely unknown.

Mount Krakatau (Krakatoa)... need I say more? :P One of the biggest eruptions ever in recorded history, there has been very small swarms recorded at the islands lately. The historic eruption that took temperatures down worldwide for years after has started to show similar pattern symptoms prior to the 1883 eruption. The volcano has been spewing ash now and again since 2010.

Quakes and eruptions are not uncommon in the area but 25 on alert/watch? That's pretty 'abnormal'

Ive not seen the Myrdalsjokull ice cap ( Katla ) so quite in a long time keep a look out as its long overdue, the last eruption to break the ice surface of Myrdalsjokull occurred in 1918, and it lasted about a month.