http://www.digitalglobe.com/downloads/DG_Analysis_Mt_Merapi_Volcano_Nov2010.pdf
The link will give you many photos ... and analysis of the damage.
Showing posts with label Mount Merapi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mount Merapi. Show all posts
November 18, 2010
November 15, 2010
October 26, 2010
Watch the Ring of Fire! Merapi is erupting
Indonesia's Mount Merapi has begun to erupt, spewing searing clouds of volcanic ash and rocks into the sky, killing three people.
One of those who died on Tuesday was a baby who suffered breathing problems, while another 30 people have been injured.
Surono, the government's chief volcanologist, said the mountain, which had been rumbling for hours, started to erupt just before dusk, a day after the agency raised the alert status to the highest level.
"We heard three explosions around 06:00 pm (1100GMT) spewing volcanic materials as high as 1.5 km upward and heatclouds down on the slopes," Surono, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, told the AFP news agency.
Indonesian scientists had warned of a pressure build-up beneath Mount Merapi's lava dome, as authorities evacuated tens of thousands of villagers to temporary shelters.
Rock avalanche
An avalanche of rocks spilled down Merapi's slopes before dawn on Tuesday and gusts of ash rose 50 metres into the air as the mountain continued to rumble.
Surono had said earlier that the greatest concern was pressure building behind a massive lava dome that has formed near the tip of the crater.
"The energy is building up. ... We hope it will release slowly," he said.
"Otherwise, we're looking at a potentially huge eruption, bigger than anything we've seen in years."
Temporary shelters were set up after officials designated an area 10km around the country's most active volcano a danger zone.
More than 50,000 people living in the shadows of the volcano, located north of the Javanese cultural capital, Jogjakarta, are now facing evacuation.
Widi Sutikno, a field co-ordinator in the Sleman district on the southern slopes of the 2,914-metre mountain, said about 3,700 people had already moved to makeshift camps.
"We have evacuated many women, pregnant women, sick people, elderly people and children," Sutikno said.
"We let some people return to their fields for their daily activity. But they need to go back to the camps and not their houses."
Huge panic
Step Vassen, Al Jazeera's correspondent close to Mount Merapi, said: "There was huge panic of course when the eruption was taking place.
"Two women are in hospital with severe wounds due to the hot gas clouds that came down from the mountain that can reach 600 degrees Celsius, so they are very dangerous.
"Now thousands of people are running away, they are trying to find a safer place. They are going to the refugee centres that have been set up by the government."
Vassen said that as Merapi is the most active volcano in the country residents were reluctant to leave for fear of leaving homes and livestock unattended for a false alarm.
Merapi last erupted in 2006, when it sent an avalanche of pyroclastic ash - hot gases and rock fragments - racing down the mountain which killed two people.
A similar eruption in 1994 killed 60 people, while 1,300 people died in an eruption in 1930.
There are more than 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which are spread across 17,500 islands and prone to eruptions and earthquakes due to its location within the so-called Ring of Fire.
The ring comprises a series of fault lines stretching from the western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
One of those who died on Tuesday was a baby who suffered breathing problems, while another 30 people have been injured.
Surono, the government's chief volcanologist, said the mountain, which had been rumbling for hours, started to erupt just before dusk, a day after the agency raised the alert status to the highest level.
"We heard three explosions around 06:00 pm (1100GMT) spewing volcanic materials as high as 1.5 km upward and heatclouds down on the slopes," Surono, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, told the AFP news agency.
Indonesian scientists had warned of a pressure build-up beneath Mount Merapi's lava dome, as authorities evacuated tens of thousands of villagers to temporary shelters.
Rock avalanche
An avalanche of rocks spilled down Merapi's slopes before dawn on Tuesday and gusts of ash rose 50 metres into the air as the mountain continued to rumble.
Surono had said earlier that the greatest concern was pressure building behind a massive lava dome that has formed near the tip of the crater.
"The energy is building up. ... We hope it will release slowly," he said.
"Otherwise, we're looking at a potentially huge eruption, bigger than anything we've seen in years."
Temporary shelters were set up after officials designated an area 10km around the country's most active volcano a danger zone.
More than 50,000 people living in the shadows of the volcano, located north of the Javanese cultural capital, Jogjakarta, are now facing evacuation.
Widi Sutikno, a field co-ordinator in the Sleman district on the southern slopes of the 2,914-metre mountain, said about 3,700 people had already moved to makeshift camps.
"We have evacuated many women, pregnant women, sick people, elderly people and children," Sutikno said.
"We let some people return to their fields for their daily activity. But they need to go back to the camps and not their houses."
Huge panic
Step Vassen, Al Jazeera's correspondent close to Mount Merapi, said: "There was huge panic of course when the eruption was taking place.
"Two women are in hospital with severe wounds due to the hot gas clouds that came down from the mountain that can reach 600 degrees Celsius, so they are very dangerous.
"Now thousands of people are running away, they are trying to find a safer place. They are going to the refugee centres that have been set up by the government."
Vassen said that as Merapi is the most active volcano in the country residents were reluctant to leave for fear of leaving homes and livestock unattended for a false alarm.
Merapi last erupted in 2006, when it sent an avalanche of pyroclastic ash - hot gases and rock fragments - racing down the mountain which killed two people.
A similar eruption in 1994 killed 60 people, while 1,300 people died in an eruption in 1930.
There are more than 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which are spread across 17,500 islands and prone to eruptions and earthquakes due to its location within the so-called Ring of Fire.
The ring comprises a series of fault lines stretching from the western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
February 22, 2008
Artist Godod Sutejo lives, works like an 'empu'
I spent over an hour looking for just one of Godod Sutejo's paintings to display with this article - God knows we need to look at the best images with all the pictures of suffering we are forced to endure.
But alas, even though I sat through some intense downloading there were none to found.
So I am suggesting that one of my "classier" readers who has artistic tastes goes out and supplies one and helps me post in here.
I really love my "connection" with Mount Merapi and its spirituality which is gadzoooks old. I'd like to see what GODod did with that image.
HInt, Hint, Hint. It'll look real nice when I get my own dvd of this rambling blog - a bit more pastel and a bit less graphics. (Otherwise I am going to have start posting more Uzbeck folk art images ... not that those are bad, but I think this would be a real coup for the blog to have it. Something real spiritually nourishing. Hint. Hint. HInt. Having that pic would do my soul so much more good than posting endless pics of HiLIARy's mug. Just a pic would do nicely. Thanking you in advance.)
Veeger
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
The word empu or grandmaster craftsman in Javanese relates to someone with a deep understanding of life and whose craftsmanship is unquestionable -- both in its technical and spiritual aspects.
The works of an empu are not only valuable due to their high quality in terms of materials, design and the engineering, but also sacred because of the spiritual experience the empu has to go through to create it.
"That is exactly what I want to experience in painting, working in a similar way to how an empu creates sacred weapons," Yogyakarta-based artist Godod Sutejo told The Jakarta Post at his house and workshop in Suryodiningratan recently.
As an artist, Godod says he has reached a phase where he sees painting not just as a work of art but as more importantly the fruit of his spiritual experience.
Apart from relying on technical skills he has developed for years, the painter also takes a spiritual path, praying and selecting the right time to start or finish a painting.
He also frees his mind from seeing, saying or even thinking of evil things, especially while painting.
The created works, he said, should be more than just ordinary paintings suitable for decorating a house, but should also provide "a good aura of energy, peace and comfort".
"I want my paintings to serve more than just to comfort the collectors' eyes but also their hearts and souls."
The graduate of the Indonesian Academy of Fine Arts (ASRI, now the Indonesian Institute of the Arts) in Yogyakarta, also explained why he likes to paint at night, usually from 10 p.m. until dawn, where everyone else in his house is already asleep.
"That way I can fully concentrate on painting as nothing else will disturb me," Godod said.
Born in Wonigiri, Central Java, the 55-year-old is known for his spacious, huge landscapes with small objects on them.
The landscapes feature the sky, sea, desert, beaches and mountains, all in soft colors. The small objects are depicted in detail and are easy to recognize, ranging from humans to animals.
In Sajian Doa Merapi (Merapi Prayer Offering, 2007), for example, the world's most active volcano, Mount Merapi, is depicted as a huge landscape with small human figures conducting the Javanese labuan ritual on its slope.
In Layang-layang Demokrasi (Kites of Democracy, 2007), groups humans fly kites in the sky.
"These kinds of paintings have a peaceful, serene, calmness and cool nuances, convincing us further that human beings are very, very small in the hand of God."
This particular painting style, he said, was the result of his own "spiritual experience" at Yogyakarta's Samas Beach in Bantul back in 1972.
He saw a line of fishermen walking home from the sea. From a distance they were just small figures on the huge beach, the blue ocean and sky a massive backdrop.
"That was how I started painting small objects on a huge, extending landscape of the nature," he recalled.
He enrolled in ASRI Yogyakarta upon finishing senior high school but his studies were not smooth after his father stopped sending him money due to financial problems.
Refusing to drop out, Godod supported himself by making wooden painting stands and selling them to his fellow students. He survived, getting his bachelor and undergraduate degrees in 1997 and 1982 respectively
During the course of his study, Godo has been active in both joining and organizing exhibitions. From 1975 to 1990, he was the artist coordinator at Pasar Seni Ancol art market in North Jakarta.
"Yes, I was among the pioneers of the art market," he said, recalling the art market's golden years between 1978 and 1995.
He could not recall how many exhibitions he had taken part in but the one held at Jakarta-based Tembi Cultural House last month was his 13th solo exhibition.
As an artist, Godod is probably one of a kind, especially in terms of setting the price of his own work.
All his paintings are priced by length -- at Rp 2,000 (about 21 US cent) per square centimeter.
He said his pricing method would allow buyers to calculate prices on their own, without making him feeling awkward about writing out price tags.
"I'm getting older. There will surely be a time where I just cannot give a price for my own paintings," he said. "The method will help collectors or buyers to decide what they should pay for my painting."
October 17, 2007
Latest on Mount Merapi (you can search the blog via the search box for previous items on this. Please pay attention to Maridjan's input on all this. I have taken great pains to ensure that whatever he says gets published on line, as the MSM media tries to bury whatever he says.)
Security
In statement posted to its website, the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre (PVMBG) said the volcano's explosion is "imminent".
The authorities have ordered a compulsory evacuation for the inhabitants of the area, yet reports say that some villagers have decided to defy the wrath of the volcano and stay to feed the livestock, look after the crops and protect their houses.
Tempting fate is not unusual among some Indonesians, who often trust centuries-old mystical traditions more than modern science.
Last year, as Central Java’s Mount Merapi - another active volcano - was believed to be about to erupt - residents stayed put and listened to Maridjan, a seventy-something year old local, who said that nothing would happen.
Maridjan is Mount Merapi's 'gatekeeper' and he is believed to be the medium between the residents and the mountain spirits
Mount Kelud does not seem to have a 'gatekeeper.’ What it has, instead, is a fierce reputation as one of the most dangerous among Indonesia’s 70 active volcanoes.
The 1,731-meter volcano last erupted in 1990, destroying one hundred villages and killing 5,160 people. Experts believe another eruption is already overdue.
Indonesia's 17,000 islands lie on the so-called ‘Pacific Ring of Fire,’ a series of volcanoes and fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
Scientists say sthat 90 percent of all the world's earthquakes and 81 percent of the world's largest earthquakes occur along this line.
Indonesia has had two of the world's biggest volcanic eruptions in the past 200 years: Mount Tambora in 1815 which killed over 71,000 people; and Krakatau in the Sunda Straits in 1883 which killed an estimate of 36,400 people.
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