Indonesia Struck by Earthquake, Tsunami, & Volcanic Eruption

As if the Indonesian people hadn't gone through enough already, this happened within the span of hours as well, albeit in a different location:

Obviously given Indonesia's past and recent history of natural disasters (Krakatau/Krakatoa and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to name two of many), neither volcanoes, earthquakes, or tsunamis are unusual in and of themselves. But to have an earthquake (which triggered the fatal tsunami) and an unrelated fatal volcanic eruption hit within the span a single day is unbelievably bad luck.

Here's hoping that the deaths are not as high as they're predicting and that a lot of the missing have simply gone to higher ground for a while.

 

I hope things aren't as bad as it sounds...that is horrible. A Earthquake, Tsunami, & Volcanic Eruption happening all in the same day has got to be terrifying.

 

Bloody hell. This is terrible. I hope all of those missing people turn up alive. This sounds pretty ominous, though.

 

geez. They can't catch a break.

 

According to CNN, the death toll from the volcano is up to at least 25 and the fatalities for the tsunami are at least 154, with hundreds still missing. Considering the damage, this is likely to get much worse.

 

Here's hoping for a swift rescue and recovery, and that no one else is injured.

 

I read about this on CNN yesterday.
Very sad and can only hope for swift aid and lower numbers.

It's also just a bit scary, Mother Earth seems a bit upset these days.

 

The death toll is up to 29 from the volcano and 282 from the quake. Hundreds are still missing. There are still major accessibility and communication problems with the areas hit by the tsunami.

 

My punning muscle is working overtime right about now. The proximity of the words tsunami/waves, catching, and break (and even Leviathan) are throwing several surfing related gags to mind, and not a single one of them is remotely tasteful in the circumstances...

 

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if the eruption was related to the earthquake - I can see the earthquake causing a shift that opened up a path for the volcano to start spewing, and the island isn't that big.

(Caveat: I'm not a vulcanologist - I don't even play one on TV - or a geologist. My only experience with earth science was in glaciology 20 years ago, when I worked at Radarsat. I shared an office with a geologist, but we worked on separate projects.)

 

I think your idea has merit, Toronto Trekker. If the quake can be the cause of the Tsunami, as has been proven, can volcanoes be left out?

If all the earth science specialties shared information more we might know more. It's why I stated a bit of apprehension in the way Ol' Mother Earth is acting up/out lately.

 

They were different islands: Java for the volcano and the Mentawai Islands off of Sumatra for the earthquake and tsunami, which are about 1300 kilometers apart.

Seismologists said that there's no evidence that the two events are related. Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia (which has 129 other active volcanoes), having erupted and caused fatalities in 2006, 1994, and 1930 with other more minor eruptions in between. This eruption was described as the volcano undergoing a large but relatively common release of pent up pressure, possibly in anticipation of a larger eruption in the near future, depending on whether it forms a lava dome or not.

 

Ah. I only saw the one map with the story about it. Mind you, I read it quickly because it was way past bedtime, so it's possible that I failed to notice a second map.

 

Merapi erupted again:

Good news that they found 135 of the people missing after the tsunami alive though.

 

^ That is good news, amidst all this bad.

 

Seems like God doesn't like Indonesia. But in the end it's just the US doing their top secret experiments again.

 

Wow. That video is quite amazing. A world of ash. A little taste of what Pompeii and Herculaneum suffered. I'm glad they showed scenes of people being safely evacuated. At least most people got away.

And I'm also happy to hear that some of the missing have been found safe after the tsunami. Hopefully we'll get some more good news on that front.

 

TT, I take that back, as now it seems some geologists and volcanologists are contradicting those earlier reports and are indeed saying that the two incidents are related, and are part of an increased level of volcanic/seismic activity where the Eurasian and Pacific plates meet that may indicate a number of new eruptions of several volcanoes in the area happening soon:

Here's hoping they're just venting to release some pressure and it doesn't turn into a series of major volcanic eruptions, because - besides being bad for the people of Indonesia obviously - that can seriously mess with the global climate for a while.

The first part of the article is about how Merapi erupted again yesterday, and it was its most powerful eruption yet. The people there just can't catch a break.

 

Holy crap, that sounds ominous. I hope it doesn't turn out as bad as it sounds.