'Fire and Water, Tears and Fear' in Indonesia

Star, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (28 October).

Mass burial for Merapi victims (Star, 29 October).

Whenever we go to Indonesia for a business purpose in Jakarta or business-cum-leisure agenda in Bali, we always wonder how this big country is so rich in energy resources that did not get to spread much to the Philippine archipelago.

We've been to the Kalimantan island and have seen the spread of virgin forest from the resting on top of this big reservoir of coal--often referred to as black diamond--enough to fuel the power needs of the world for some 300 years.  Through the rivers there, we've visited coal mines. They have young coal (lignite, juicy because of high moisture) and old coal (anthracite, hard and almost dry), and those in between (bituminous or sub-, the steaming coal so widely pursued by power generators of the world).

Indonesia is an OPEC entity; it was the favorite of oil refineries for their sweet crude, although we heard that the reserve is almost depleted.

There's so much energy down at the bowels of the earth there, which probably explains why the volcanoes are active in that country.  We know from history of Krakatoa, east of Java; recently, in late August, Gunung Sinabung in the island of Sumatra erupted.  Mount Merapi, considered one of the most active and dangerous volcanoes of the world, has always been rumbling and frequently erupting, the latest in 2006.  We can see why Indonesia is in the so-called Pacific Ring of "ring of fire."

The Nation, Thailand (28 October).

Countries with active volcanoes like the Philippines have their volcanologists on their toes whenever there are indications of possible eruptions. With this predictiveness of volcanic activity, people can always be alerted to evacuate potential danger areas.

De Verdieping Trouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands (28 October).

Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta in Central Java erupted on Tuesday, 26 October claiming the lives of 34 people. The post-eruption landscape is already familiar to Filipinos: a deep cover of volcanic ash all around. We did not hear of lahar flooding though similar to what happened in several towns in Pampanga province after the Pinatubo eruption. Merapi has been grumbling this past week, and early this morning (Saturday, 30 October), it gave its strongest blow so far.

That brought double grief to Indonesia after the 10-foot high tsunami waves washed away the villages at Mentawai Island, off Sumatra caused by a 7.7-magnitude quake that struck late Monday, 25 October, beneath the Indian Ocean.

The latest death toll at Mentawai has rose to more than 400, and around 300 more are still missing.  The dim picture was brightened up a bit with the miraculous survival of a 2-month-old baby who was discovered in a storm drain.

These twin catastrophes are severely testing Indonesia's emergency response network. There's been a call for medical assistance in Mentawai.  We've heard that the Philippine President has offered help to the Indonesian President in Vietnam where the ASEAN heads of states are having a leaders' summit.

Postscript.  This issue of the Manila Bulletin of October 28 gives details of the world's infamous tsunamis.  The highest tsunami wave is 1,720 feet high in Alaska in 1958 (20 died, 7.9 magnitude).  The deadliest (50-ft high waves, 9.0 magnitude) occurred at the Indian Ocean in December 2004 with 230,000 dead/missing.

Manila Bulletin, Philippines (29 October).

The website Volcano Live-John Seach is the best place to check for volcanic activities around the world.  There's a  Merapi Volcano page for a history of its eruptions.


References:

1.    Gelineau, Kristen. (2010, October 30). Death Toll of Mentawai Tsunami Tops 400.  The Jakarta Post. Retrieved from  http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/29/death-toll-mentawai-tsunami-tops-400.html 

2.    Seach, John. (2010). Merapi Volcano - John Seach. Retrieved from ttp://www.volcanolive.com/merapi.html