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Indonesia Mount Merapi volcano erupts again Friday

By the CNN Wire Staff
November 12, 2010 1:39 p.m. EST
Indonesian Special Forces look for victims of the Merapi eruption in the village of Glagaharjo on November 12, 2010.
Indonesian Special Forces look for victims of the Merapi eruption in the village of Glagaharjo on November 12, 2010.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • More than 200 people have died from the volcano, which started erupting again October 26
  • Nearly 400,000 people have had to flee their homes, disaster official says
  • The worst may be over, authorities said, but a danger zone remains
  • Mount Merapi lies in one of the world's most densely populated areas

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted again Friday, spewing volcanic material for more than an hour, the official Antara news agency reported.

The death toll from the volcano's latest round of eruptions, which started October 26, has reached 206, and nearly 400,000 people have had to flee their homes, a national disaster official said Friday.

Mount Merapi, which looms on the horizon north of the major city of Yogyakarta, is located on the island of Java.

"Rescue workers recovered more bodies in the villages," said Haartje Robert Winerungan of the National Disaster Coordination Agency.

In addition, he said, a total of "380,049 people are still displaced in around Yogyakarta and Central Java."

Disaster officials said Thursday the worst may be over, but a danger zone remains within a 20-kilometer (12.2-mile) radius of the volcano.

Survivor tells of Merapi terror
Ash everywhere from Mt. Merapi
RELATED TOPICS

Flights returned to normal Monday, but U.S. President Barack Obama was forced to cut short his visit to Indonesia this week because of the volcano's ash cloud.

Merapi's recent eruptions have released about 140 million cubic meters (4.9 million cubic feet) of magma, the disaster agency said. The previous record flow occurred in 1872, at 100 million cubic meters (3.5 million cubic feet). Magma is a mixture of molten rock, solid particles and other material found beneath the earth's surface.

Volcanic material from Friday's eruption could travel quite far, emergency officials said, because previous lava flows have destroyed trees and any other obstacles.

Government volcanology experts have kept Merapi's alert level at 4, the highest.

Merapi's seismic intensity declined after the initial outburst, but a major eruption occurred November 3 and peaked November 5, Antara said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called the volcano eruptions a crisis situation. Over the weekend, he and several of his ministers visited Yogyakarta to oversee relief efforts.

The volcano has a summit elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). It is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes and lies in one of the world's most densely populated areas.

About 1,300 people died when Merapi erupted in 1930.

Many people continue to live in the shadow of the volcano, raising crops and livestock.

The president has announced that residents will receive compensation for livelihoods and animals lost to the eruptions. The government will buy endangered cows on the volcano, Yudhoyono said. Many of those who live on its slopes risked their lives by staying or returning to feed their cows during lulls in the volcanic activity.

CNN's Andy Saputra contributed to this report.

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  • 2MorCents
    (Matthew 24:7-8) 7 “For ... there will be ... earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress." We should expect these things in these last days. Please visit your locak Kingdom Hall to find out how to survive them.
  • scuba31
    All their president has to do is put all of the displaced people on the Mexico border. Then, while Obama and his administration watch, they can all jump the fence and come right on over. I think Obama might personally hand them tax payer funded checks for at least $100,000 to start, with the only ... more
  • scuba31
    See? The problem that Bush clearly caused is now solved! Who cares about logic, right dems?
  • teamhex
    The dangerous part of volcanoes are the pryoclastic flows and ash they produces. I heard this thing on NPR about them having a shaman or something tell them not to leave. So most of these people died thinking a deity was going to protect them.
  • tiddleD
    I feel sorry for the baby porpoises. They must be really really hungry, like those hippos that one time.
  • SteeleRVB
    140,000,000 m³ = 4,944,053,320 ft³. That's roughly 4.94 TRILLION cubic feet... yet another blazing proofreading (what's that again?) failure at CNN.
  • scuba31
    @Willllll - got a couple different screen names, huh? What in the world for?!
  • Badger905
    Good job pointing out the same thing that about 40 other people did before you.
  • tiddleD
    Good job pointing out the same thing that about 40 other people did before you.
  • Willlllll
    Good job pointing out the same thing that about 40 other people did before you.
  • SteeleRVB
    Heh, BILLION. Need coffee.
  • dasithds
    Please get your unit conversions correct, this IS CNN right? (1m^3 is nearl 36 ft^3)
  • Kelcy
    Or Mt Rainer overlooking Seattle.
  • AnnieCofHB
    Jeff C. If a foot is 12 inches and a meter is 39 inches then how can 4.9 million cubic feet equal 140 million cubic meters? You performed your math backwards!
    If you need to hire a science editor I am available.
  • groovygoober
    I love the link title to this article "Most volcano victims burned to death"...

    I mean, really? Who'd a thunk a volcano would burn someone...
  • scuba31
    Clearly this is Bush's fault. I can't believe we are letting him get away with it again!
  • shell242
    Willlllll - Except some of those items you "know" he is "Clearly" responsible for are about as "clear" as blaming him for the volcano. Maybe you can go "think" on it with your Smith & Wesson.
  • Willlllll
    Yes, blaming Bush for stuff that he CLEARLY IS responsible for is clearly the same thing as blaming him for volcanoes erupting, etc. Clearly you should place the business end of a Smith and Wesson in your mouth and push the lever to the handle.
  • FransKes
    100 million cubic meters equals 3.5 BILLION cubic feet, not 3.5 MILLION cubic feet.
  • clindsey35
    where's all the environmentalists worried about the total amount of greenhouse gases pumped out by mother nature this year alone........and yes i know it's a stupid comment i'm just making a funny,....however stupid it may be!
  • shell242
    Clearly, this volcano needs to speak with Al Gore to puchase some carbon credits to make the eruption ok again.
  • bremen3011
    A volcano is simply an Earth's pimple. It is crazy how a pimple can cause so much destruction.
    Mother nature at it's best in all it's glory and awesomeness, it's too bad us pesky little humans had to be in the way, I hope these people recover from the devastation soon and my thoughts go out to them.
  • shell242
    ConvertOrDie - Yes, mother nature is stronger than all of mankind. A single pimple of an asteriod could wipe out mankind too...
  • ConvertOrDie
    Just an earth pimple huh? Well, I wasn't aware a single pimple could wipe out mankind..
  • student123
    2% people control 80% world resources, that the reason of all problems
 
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