Mt. Merapi By: Ayodhana

Introduction  April-June 2006 eruption: new lava dome & pyroclastic flows, 2 fatalities  After 5 years of relative calm, a new eruption started in April A new lava dome was built on top of the lava dome of , powerful pyroclastic flows descended the SW, S and SE flanks in the late May and June.  Mount Merapi has more than 600 people per square km, it is one of the highest population in the world. Yogyakarta is a city with a population of 3 million people, is 15 miles south of Merapi. Merapi is a basaltic to basaltic-andesite stratovolcano with a summit crater containing an unstable lava dome. Merapi is Indonesia's most active volcano and also well known for partial collapse of lava domes and the generation of pyroclastic flows.

Why people live near Merapi  People live near merapi because of merapi is a volcano, because it’s a volcano there are more valuable resources in that area. Also by living near that area the soil becomes more moist so that the plants can grow in a better way and that it can also grow faster the the one in a regular soil.  People also live near merapi because of the resources that can be found and that is really valuable to them such as diamond, it will take thousands of years to produce and it is also really rare to find and some of them can be found near volcanoes.

What is the benefit of living near merapi  The benefits of living near merapi is that there are a lot of resources such as  Volcanic rocks :  Volcanic rocks are rich in minerals, but when the rocks are fresh the minerals are not available to plants. The rocks need thousands of years to become weathered and broken down before they form rich soils. When they do become soils, they form some of the richest ones on the planet.  Geothermal energy:  Geothermal means heat energy from the earth. It's unusual to use the heat directly, by building your house on top of a steam vent for example, because it's unpredictable, dangerous and messy.

Preparation  When a volcano is about to explode, there will be a alarm the tells the categori ( size) of the volcanic eruption. If the alarm tells that it’s a high level danger then you must start preparing. First, the best thing to start getting prepared is to get some survival gear, because when it has happen you must survive and spend the night in somewhere you don’t know. So its better to prepare some survival food like MRE or small food, and another thing to get prepared is to get some good protective clothing like a fireman suit because its safer to wear.

What should you do when it erupts  First. You need to get prepared  Second. After getting all the stuff you need, which are protective gears and that kind of stuffs, you will need to go to the highest place possible near the location because when volcano erupts it will shoot out a blast of molten lava and if you are on a high ground you wont get caught by the lava.  Third.The thing you must be aware is when the pyroclastic flow starts moving, in that situation you must find some shelter and cover it with your protection gear.

Resources  volc_images/southeast_asia/merapi_haza rd.html volc_images/southeast_asia/merapi_haza rd.html  site.co.uk/pages/physical/earth/volcano es/volcanoliving.html