SCALE AND UNCERTAINTY OF MOUNT MERAPI’S ERUPTION CYCLE IS EXACERBATING HEALTH CARE NEEDS IN INDONESIA October 26 – November ?, 2010 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

INDONESIA: A NATION OF 256 MILLION PEOPLE, 17,000 ISLANDS AND 155 ACTIVE VOLCANOES

INDONESIA’S 155 VOLCANOES (MOUNT MERAPI IS BOTTOM LEFT CENTER)

Monday and Tuesday: Oct Indonesia endured two days of environmental extremes after a powerful earthquake, a tsunami, and a volcanic eruption struck different regions of the Indonesian archipelago.

MOUNT MERAPI AKA “FIRE MOUNTAIN” Mount Merapi has a history of starting full scale eruptions with a heat, or pyroclastic cloud, and a lava flow.

MOUNT MERAPI ERUPTED THREE TIMES: OCT 26, 2010

SEARCH AND RESCUE AFTER MERAPI’S ERUPTION

CASUALTIES: 538 NOW, BUT MORE LIKELY IN THE FUTURE The earthquake and tsunami run up left at least 500 dead, and Merapi’s initial eruption left 38 dead, BUT, health impacts associated with Mount Merapi’s continuing eruption could cause many more casualties.

MOUNT MERAPI --- BUT, MOUNT MERAPI, WHICH IS NOTORIOUSLY UNPREDICTABLE, WAS NOT FINISHED!

The scale of Mount Merapi's current eruption appears to be the largest in 80 years.

Since Merapi began erupting, officials have deployed more than 2,000 troops to keep the people off the slopes of the mountain, and, on Saturday, to force men, women and children to evacuate.

SATURDAY’S ERUPTION SPREAD ASH 30 KM: OCT 31

On Sunday, October 31, Mount Merapi spewed a searing cloud of ash down its slopes, prompting panic and chaos among thousands of villagers who had taken advantage of a lull in activity to go home to check on their livestock.

MERAPI’S ERUPTION CONTINUES: MONDAY, NOV 1

Sirens blared, people jumped into rivers trying to escape Mount Merapi’s fury, some sprinted down the mountain or sped off in cars and trucks, while others agreed to be evacuated by the Government.

70,000 EVACUATED AS ERUPTION CONTINUES: NOV 2

FLAWS IN EVACUATION FACILITIES EXPOSED : NOV 2 Tens of thousands of evacuees, who were anxious to go home to check on livestock and homes, found the camps cramped and unsanitary, but they were unable to go because there was no clear end of Merapi’s eruption cycle.

LARGEST ERUPTION YET: NOV 3

In consideration of the violence of the eruption on November 3 rd, the government widened the evacuation zone from 5 to 10 kilometers.

Aid workers say the conditions in the evacuee camps are very poor, with some shelters having as few as five lavatories for every thousand residents.

MERAPI’S ERUPTS AGAIN: NOV 4-5 Just before midnight, Merapi erupted with a 10 km ash plume that affected locations 250 km away and a pyroclastic cloud of ash and rock fragments that raced down the slopes at speeds of up to 100 km per hour.

ERUPTION CONTINUES : NOV 6

At least 94 people died when a gas cloud incinerated fleeing villagers and severely injured more than 200 others who suffered severe burns, respiratory problems, broken bones, and cuts..

Deaths from the continuing eruption of Mount Merapi continue to climb from: 38 to 56 to 118 to 138.

EXPERTS SAY MERAPI COULD CONTINUE ERUPTING FOR WEEKS If this forecast holds, the unhygienic conditions and cramped living conditions could cause serious health problems.