Kanook – Tlingit Nation

October 25th, 2010

The Most Active and Dangerous Volcano in the World

The Fire Mountain “Merapi” is on the right!

If you spoke or understood Javanese you would know that even its name signifies danger,
where Meru translates into “mountain” and Api means “fire”, or Gunung Merapi “Mountain of
Fire”.
Its infamous peak, "Puncak Garuda" rises some 1.84 miles above sea level, and has been
violently active on a regular basis since 1548, albeit many thousands of years older it is the
youngest of the group of volcanoes in southern Java and the most active of all volcanoes in
Indonesia, being just some 400,000 years old. It sits astride the Indo-Australian/Eurasian Plate
subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian plate is sliding beneath the Eurasian Plate. It is just
one of the one-hundred and twenty-nine active volcanoes in Indonesia account for over 28% of
the total volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a 24,854 mile arc known for its violent volcanoes,
oceanic trenches and 80% of the world’s massive earthquakes.
Merapi has the distinction of being one of sixteen volcanoes that belong to a classification of
volcanoes known as the “Decade Volcanoes” of which Mt Rainier (14,411’) in Washington State
belongs – these 16 volcanoes lay claim to this distinction because of their huge historical
destructive eruptions and their now close proximity to populated areas. Over the past 12,000 plus
years the eruptions from Gunung Merapi have become more explosive, translating into countless
deaths of the local population.
 Merapi is located some 346.3 miles southeast of the volcanic island in the middle of the Sunda
Strait, “Krakatau” that exploded on August 26th and 27th, 1883
with a force around 13,000 times the nuclear bomb that wiped
out Hiroshima, Japan near the end of WWII – for the record
the Krakatau explosive is still ranked as the most powerful
explosion in recorded history – four times the power of the
“Tsar Bomba” the largest nuclear device ever set to the
match. The official death toll from Krakatau event stands at
36,417 souls (unofficial a plus 40,000 lives were claimed),
with many thousands injured and displaced from their normal
habitat. When the dust finally settled only one-third of the
original island of Krakatau was left above the Sunda Strait,
whereas over five cubic miles of debris was vented into the atmosphere and surrounding sea –
causing massive tsunamis in the immediate region.
Albeit Merapi’s history does not equal the fame as Krakatau, albeit has taken a significant toll
on human life and the surrounding environment, such as the eruption in 1006 that covered all of
central Java with ash – and is said to have led to the collapse of the Hindu Kingdom of Mataram 1,
albeit proof positive on this happening it is accepted as a real event is lacking. It continues today
in holding particular significance for the people of Java, in that it is one of four places where

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Mataram
officials from the royal palaces of “Yogyakarta” and “Solo” make an annual offering to placate
the ancient Javanese spirits – really a good time to throw a party of two.
Over the weekend, 23rd and 24th, the fire mountain had over 500 earthquakes, causing officials
more than a little excitement as they order the immediate evacuation of everyone living within a 6
mile radius of its peak, last count revealed that over 19,000 residents, joining 3,000 who have
been living in temporary quarters because of the volcano, have been relocated. They have
informed government officials and the press that “magma has been pushed upwards due the
escalating seismic energy to about six-tenths of a mile (3,300 feet) below the crater. The
prediction of an imminent eruption is at the “red” level – the highest on the scale of warnings.
The closest major city is “Jogjakara” from its center some 19 miles distance south, it has a
population over 388,000 people and is considered the center of classical Javanese fine art and
culture, along with its reputation as the center for Indonesian higher education – during the
Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949) it was the Indonesian capital.
At 2:42:22 PM Morocco time, or, 7:42:22 PST today (25th) a powerful 7.5-M earthquake
slammed the region off of Western Sumata at a depth of 8-miles, some reports say it has claimed
the lives of three people and injured over twenty-five – soon after the Pacific Tsunami center
issued a warning that over the last two-hours has been lifted. The epicenter was some 746 miles
northeast of the Fire Mountain, another 6.2-M struck at 10:59 PM UTC (Morocco) near the same
location at 14.4 miles deep.
Mount Merapi last showed its
stuff in June 6th killing two people,
preceding this eruption a 5.6 M
earthquake on May 27th struck
around 30-miles southwest of the
mountain killing at least 5,000 and
leaving 200,000 residents in the
region homeless – it was noted as
short-period action, now normally
associated with a seismic
disturbance linked to a volcanic eruption. 11,000 villagers were evacuated on June 6th as lava and
superheated (534°F) clouds of gas poured repeatedly down the Fire Mountain upper slopes – it
was in these clouds of gas that two people were killed, who believing they’d be safe hiding in a
shack was wrong.
 Almost directly to the north Merapi at a distance of 9 miles in the twin-peaked dormant
stratovolcano of Mount Merbabu – a loose translation of the name is “Mountain of Ash” – a
broad nine-tenths of a mile saddle separates the two mountains, with the village of Selo in the
saddle – residents there enjoy a very fertile land – excellent for farming – that is unless the Fire
Mountain blows its top – they’ve got to then run and duck. The twin peak Merbabu’s peaks
Syarif (1.93 miles above sea level) and Kentegn Songo (1.95 miles above sea level) last erupted
or showed any activity in 1797.

Located 34.5 miles north east of Merapi is another active volcano Mount Sindara at 10,288 feet,
whereas one can find parasitic craters and cones in the northwest-southern flanks – with the
largest named Kembang – a small lava dome is at its summit – its history shows some minor
phreatic eruptions2.
52.2 miles southwest of the Fire Mountain is Mount Lawu or Gunug Lawu a massive
compound stratovolcano between the border of East Java an Central Java. Its north side is deeply
eroded with its east side containing parasitic crater lakes and parasitic cones, in addition on its
southern flank a large fumarolic area is located at 1.56 miles above sea level… the only reported
activity ever reported on Mount Lawu took place in 1885, when rumbling and some light
volcanic ash spewing into the atmosphere.
http://www.shaded-relief.com/?gt=-7.540831&gl=110.444817&z=9&t=4

2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreatic_eruption
 The Indo-Australian plate (lower left side of the map) is diving under the Eurasian plate (green)
in the region of Indonesia,
this action is not only
creating a trench on the
southeast side of
Indonesia but is creating
the volcanic arch on the
northern side of the
subduction zone. This
happens when the plate
dipping down encounters
the mantle and rips it
creating a process that
causes many earthquake
and orogenesis or mountain building when larges chunks of material on the subducting plate are
pressed into the overriding plate (Eurasian). GPS reading in Australia indicated the Indo-
Australian plate is racing along a 2.64 inches per year – not a rabbit and hare competition but in
geological movement pretty active.
 I know you’ve probably never wondered what could have struck our home world over some
225 million years ago and caused it to crack like an un-cooked egg, whatever it was or whatever
happen deep in the core of our Blue Marble – since that period in antiquity the surface of the
planet has changed significantly.

The above images show the positions of the continental plates from 225 million years ago to
present. During the Permian all of the continental plates were connected forming the super
continent known as Pangaea. Please keep in mind, this action is but a theory, and has not been
solidly proven in anyway shape or form. So far this theory is supported by a bucketful of
circumstantial evidence.

Regardless of the theory, hard evidence that something

happened especially in the Pacific otherwise we would not
have the world’s concentration on earthquakes and the
majority of the planets volcanoes.