VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS:
POTENTIAL MEGA-DISASTERS IN SLOW MOTION
Based on Evaluations by the Smithsonian Institution Stimulated by the Current Ongoing
Eruptions of Mount Merapi in Indonesia
OCTOBER 25 - NOVEMBER ?, 2010
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA
Mount Merapi’s current eruptions in 2010, which started on October 25th, have caused a mega-disaster in slow motion with no end yet in
sight
MOUNT MERAPI, INDONESIA (CREDIT: JESSE ALLEN)
The wind blows the ash from Mount Merapi westward, where it rains
down from the sky, scorching the earth, and crushing the vegetation
(e.g., tropical fruit trees such as mangosteens, rambutans and snake
fruit grown by local farmers), …
---causing healthcare problems (e.g., smoke inhalation, burns,
amputations, skin problems, cuts, other injuries) for millions,….
… destroying habitats and livelihoods, disrupting air traffic and business as usual, displacing over 250,000 people, and killing over 218
people.
At present, November 13th 2010, life for people living near Mount Merapi and in
evacuation camps is dangerous and difficult, and it could continue that way for
a long time..
Subandriyo, a government vulcanologist in Yogyakarta, estimates that Mount Merapi,
Indonesia's youngest volcano, has disgorged approximately 4.6 billion cubic feet of rocks, sand, dust and
gas between October 25th and November 13th.
FIVE OTHER DANGEROUS VOLCANOES CAPABLE OF
CAUSING SLOW-MOTION DISASTERS
SANGAY, ECUADOR
STROMBOLI, ITALY
MT. ETNA, ITALY
MOUNT YASUR, VANUATU
SANTA MARIA, GUATEMALA
SANGAY, ECUADOR
Sangay’s steep-sided volcanic cone, which reaches a height of 17,158 feet (5,230 meters), has
been characterized by:1) a historical eruption in 1628, 2)
more or less continuous eruptions from 1728 until 1916, and 3)
continuous eruptions again from 1934 to the present.
STROMBOLI, ITALY
The island of Stromboli, off the west coast of southern Italy and the
north coast of Sicily, is the tip of a massive underwater volcano that
has been erupting nearly continuously in a “Strombolian” explosive mode for over 2,000
years.
MT. ETNA, ITALY
Mount Etna, currently around 10,958 feet (3,340 meters) in height
and the largest active volcano in Europe, has erupted around 200
times, including a huge eruption in 1969 and another eruption in 2001
that generated lava flows that almost reached Nicolosi
MOUNT YASUR, VANUATU
Mount Yasur, an active volcano on Tanna Island and a part of the
archipelago nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, has been erupting
nearly continuously for over a century with strombolian- type
eruptionsk, often occurring several times an hour.
SANTA MARIA, GUATEMALA
Santa Maria, a 12,375-foot (3,772-meter) tall stratovolcano, had a
catastrophic eruption in 1902, one of the largest eruptions of the 20th
century, that caused severe damage throughout southwestern
Guatemala