11 bodies recovered after volcanic eruption in Indonesia; 12 climbers still missing
PADANG, Indonesia — The bodies of 11 climbers were recovered Monday after a furious eruption the day before of Indonesia’s Mt. Merapi volcano, as rescuers searched for 12 still missing.
Merapi has stayed at the third-highest of four alert levels since 2011, a level indicating above-normal volcanic activity and prohibiting climbers or villagers within about two miles of the peak, said Hendra Gunawan, the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.
“This means that there should be no climbing to the peak,” Gunawan said, adding that climbers were allowed only below the danger zone. “But sometimes many of them broke the rules to fulfill their satisfaction to climb further.”
About 75 climbers had started their way up the nearly 9,480-foot mountain Saturday and became stranded. Eight of those rescued Sunday were taken to hospitals with burns, and one also had a broken limb, said Hari Agustian, an official at the search-and-rescue agency in Padang, the West Sumatran provincial capital.
All of the climbers had registered at two command posts or online through West Sumatra’s conservation agency before they climbed, Agustian said. It was possible that others took illegal roads or that local residents were active in the area, but it couldn’t be confirmed, he said.
Merapi spewed thick columns of ash as high as 9,800 feet in Sunday’s eruption, and hot ash clouds spread several miles. Nearby villages and towns were blanketed by tons of volcanic debris. Volcanic dust and rain smeared the faces and hair of evacuated climbers, according to video on social media.
The Long Valley Caldera, which includes Mammoth Lakes area, has been having seismic activity, which can precede a volcanic eruption. Scientists say not to worry.
Falling ash blanketed several villages and blocked sunlight, and authorities distributed masks and urged residents to wear eyeglasses to protect them from volcanic ash. About 1,400 people live on Merapi’s slopes in Rubai and Gobah Cumantiang, villages that lie about three to four miles from the peak.
Gunawan said Sunday’s eruption was not preceded by a significant increase in volcanic earthquakes. Deep volcanic earthquakes were recorded only three times between Nov. 16 and Sunday.
“This shows that the eruption process is taking place quickly,” he said.
Merapi has been observed regularly erupting since 2004 with a gap of two to four years between eruptions, Gunawan said.
“Merapi eruptions are always sudden and difficult to detect using equipment because the source is near the surface,” Gunawan said, “This eruption was not caused by the movement of magma.”
Abdul Malik, the head of West Sumatra’s search-and-rescue agency, said rescuers found 11 bodies of climbers as they searched for those still missing and rescued three others Monday morning.
“The evacuation process of the bodies and survivors [is] still ongoing,” he said.
Merapi has been active since a January eruption that caused no casualties. It is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
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