Volcano Sinabung. Sumatra. Indonesia. The eruption of an “ancient monster” on the island of Sumatra, which slept for several hundred years, impressive footage of magma and ash
The active Sinabung volcano had been dormant for 400 years but suddenly became active in 2010. The terrible tragedy claimed many lives, but as soon as people began to return to White Island, where, in fact, this volcano is located, nature again began to terrorize local residents and tourists. Since 2010, the volcano has destroyed all life several times; in 2019, another eruption occurred, which claimed several human lives. More detailed information provided by law enforcement officer John Tims.
Sinabung, volcano, eruption in 2019, video
Earlier, information appeared that at the time the volcanic eruption began, there were no more than 50 tourists on the island. Rescuers managed to evacuate 23 people from the island, including victims. It is still unknown how many people remain on White Island; no one can establish contact with them. John Tims says it is too dangerous for rescuers to return there, but they plan to resume the search as soon as such an opportunity arises.
Jacinda Ardern, the country's prime minister, said she wanted to travel to the disaster area on December 9, 2019. Jacinda expressed her sympathy for the victims. The official GeoNet portal reports that more than 10 thousand tourists come to the island every year. White Island is located 50 kilometers north of North Island. In November 2019, experts recorded an increase in volcanic activity on the island, but tourists still came to see this island.
Death of missing people
Local authorities said that 8 people who were missing on White Island have died. Information about this appeared on the official Facebook page of the local law enforcement department. Law enforcement officer John Tims said that there are no longer any survivors on the island.
It is known that at the time of the volcano’s activation, which occurred in early December 2019, there were no more than 50 people on the island. These people included citizens of New Zealand, Germany, England, China, Malaysia, Australia, England and the United States. Not long ago, information appeared that 5 people died due to the eruption, and another 31 were hospitalized. Most of the injured people are in extremely serious condition.
The bodies of the victims will soon be transported to Auckland for identification. A law enforcement official said it would be very difficult to identify the dead.
Sinabung eruption timeline
Tragedy of 2010
A terrible tragedy occurred on one of the last days August 2010. It is noteworthy that people did not worry about this volcano for 400 years; that is how long it was in “hibernation” mode. Experts recorded smoke and ash emissions at least one and a half kilometers high. There were about 12 villages located within a radius of 6 kilometers from the volcano. The eruption forced more than 12 thousand local residents to flee their homes. In a short period of time, another 5 thousand people abandoned their homes, all of them trying to escape as far as possible from Sinabung, which was destroying everything in its path.
Repetition of the tragedy in 2013
The volcano, which had previously been dormant for 400 years, began to erupt too often. The next eruption began at the very beginning of November 2013. A column of volcanic ash and smoke rose several kilometers above the top of the volcano.
Chaos in 2014 and 2015
A few months after the tragedy in 2013, the Sinabung volcano again began to produce a series of ash emissions in January 2014. It is reported that the volcano then produced 30 ash emissions and 60 lava eruptions, thereby forcing more than 20 thousand local residents to leave their homes. Lava flowed 5 kilometers south of the volcano's crater, and a cloud of volcanic ash reached a height of 4 kilometers.
In the winter of 2014, local residents witnessed another activation of the volcano. Sinabung raised clouds of hot ash into the air to a height of 2 kilometers, the lava swallowed all the neighboring villages. About 14 people are considered dead. The eruption occurred after residents who were more than 5 kilometers from the mountain were allowed to return home after a long absence of volcanic activity. Among the dead was a journalist from a local TV channel and four children from high school together with your teacher. They all came to the mountain to see the eruption up close.
It is noteworthy that 7 people from the Indonesian Christian movement GMKI were present at the scene; these people wanted to save the local residents, but, unfortunately, they died. In the summer of 2015, the volume of lava that Sinabung erupted rose to 3 million cubic meters, because of this there was a real threat of the collapse of the volcano’s dome. Local authorities said that people needed to be evacuated, which was done. In total, more than 6 thousand people were evacuated.
Return of Sinabunga in 2016
In the winter of 2016, Sinabung once again began throwing out columns of ash. It is reported that at this time the pillars reached a height of three kilometers, the dome collapsed, and lava began to pour out. Due to the next eruption, which occurred at the end of May of the same year, about 7 people died, while two more people were in critical condition.
Volcano activity in 2018
Another disaster occurred at the end of February 2018. Huge columns of ash rose to a height of 5 kilometers and spread 4.9 kilometers in south direction. Locals were not injured. Due to the reactivating volcano, Australia decided to declare a state of emergency and prohibit planes from taking off.
On the island of Sumatra (Indonesia), the Sinabung volcano has awakened.
The eruption occurred last Sunday, June 9, but social media users continue to share impressive footage taken at the moment when Sinabung emitted a column of ash seven kilometers high.
As the National Agency for Volcanology clarified, pyroclastic flows (a mixture of high-temperature volcanic gases, ash and rock fragments formed during a volcanic eruption - RV) were recorded at a distance of more than nine kilometers from the crater.
The eruption itself lasted about nine minutes, followed by several aftershocks. Currently, the vicinity of the volcano remains at a “red” danger level.
According to the official representative of the National Agency for Overcoming Emergencies and Disaster Consequences Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, residents of villages located dangerously close to the volcano were promptly evacuated.
When the ash began to settle to the ground, experts called on the local population to wear protective masks: they were distributed free of charge to residents of villages in the area where the volcanic ash settled.
Thousands of frightened tourists were reported to have fled the town of Berastagi in Karo district of North Sumatra province, which is about 23 km from the volcano.
There were no casualties as a result of the eruption.
Help RV
Volcano Sinabung has a height of 2460 meters above sea level. For the first time in almost 400 years, the volcano woke up in 2010. Ash emissions were repeated in 2013 and early 2014.
In the summer of 2014, Mount Sinabung erupted for the first time in four hundred years. In June 2015, more than six thousand people had to be evacuated from the area around the active volcano. In February 2018, the volcano emitted a column of ash about five kilometers high.
Indonesia is part of the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire" - a powerful tectonic fault where the plate that forms the bottom Indian Ocean, as if “squeezed” under the Asian plate, of which the island of Sumatra is a part. The energy that accumulates as a result of the movement of tectonic plates is often released in the form of powerful tremors and volcanic eruptions.
Ash cloud
The eruption of Mount Agung in northeast Bali began last weekend. As a result nearby resorts and the villages were covered with a thin layer of ash. Dark gray clouds above the volcano's summit were visible from the island's capital, Denpasar, and even from the neighboring island of Lombok.
Lava flow emissions
As night fell, a bright glow from the crater illuminated a cloud of ash that rose 6,000 meters above the summit of Mount Agung. It began showing signs of activity back in September, prompting local authorities to upgrade the volcano's danger status to emergency and evacuate 140,000 people living nearby. However, later, on October 29, the danger level was lowered.
Eruption of Mount Agung on the island of Bali
Highest point in Bali
Volcano Agung with a height of 3142 meters is the most high point islands. As a result of gas and ash emissions, the work of two airports was stopped at once - on the island of Bali and on neighboring island Lombok.
Eruption of Mount Agung on the island of Bali
Paradise under the ashes
Bali Island is the main one tourist center Indonesia. Beautiful ocean beaches, temples and lush forests attract about 5 million tourists a year. But, according to Made Sugiri, a representative of the local Mahagiri Panoramic hotel, the number of visitors has decreased in recent months: “We have left the danger zone, but, like other resorts in the region, of course the eruptions cause an outflow of tourists.”
Eruption of Mount Agung on the island of Bali
"Still safe"
Indonesia's disaster management agency says Bali is "still safe" for tourists. The agency said in a statement that Agung's emergency status remained at Level 3 over the weekend (one point below its highest level). high danger). At the same time, despite a number of eruptions, volcanic activity remains relatively stable.
Eruption of Mount Agung on the island of Bali
Airports are closed
Things were different with the status of air travel over the island - on Sunday, November 26, the danger level here reached its highest level - red. Although many flights continued to operate, hundreds of people were stranded. As a result, the airport on the island of Lombok was closed first, and then the main international airport Ngurah Rai in Bali.
Eruption of Mount Agung on the island of Bali
Exclusion zone around the volcano
The latest lava eruptions have displaced about 25,000 people. Authorities called on everyone inside the exclusion zone within a 7.5-kilometer radius of the volcano's crater to evacuate immediately. Mount Agung - one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Its last major eruption, which occurred in 1963, killed more than a thousand people.
Eruption of Mount Agung on the island of Bali
Magma and ash
Volcanologists described the renewed activity of Mount Agung on November 25 as a phreatic explosion, that is, an eruption with evaporation of smoke caused by heating and expansion of groundwater. On November 26, authorities announced that, judging by the settling of ash, a magmatic eruption had already begun.
Eruption of Mount Agung on the island of Bali
Precautions in Bali
"Mt Agung is still spewing ash, but we need to keep a close eye and be prepared for a more powerful, explosive eruption," warns Indonesian volcanologist Gede Suantika. Soldiers and police are distributing protective masks to people in nearby villages and resorts.
The largest cluster of volcanoes is located in the Earth's "belt of fire" - the Pacific volcanic ring. It is here that 90% of all earthquakes in the world occurred. The so-called fire belt stretches along the entire perimeter Pacific Ocean. In the west along the coast from and to New Zealand and Antarctica, and in the east, passing through the Andes and Cordillera, it reaches the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
One of the currently active sources of the “belt of fire” is located in the north in Indonesia - the Sinabung volcano. This one of the 130 volcanoes in Sumatra is notable for the fact that over the past seven years it has been constantly active and has attracted the attention of both scientists and the media.
Chronicle of Sinabung
The first eruption of the Indonesian volcano Sinabung after four centuries of sleep began in 2010. On the weekend of August 28 and 29, underground rumbles and booms were heard. Many residents, about 10,000 people, fled away from the awakened volcano.
On Sunday night, the Sinabung volcano finally woke up: the eruption began with a powerful emission of a column of ash and smoke more than 1.5 km upward. The explosion on Sunday was followed by a more powerful one on Monday, August 30, 2010. The eruption claimed the lives of two people. In total, about 30,000 surrounding residents were forced to leave their homes and fields covered with volcanic ash with lost crops. In the photo below, residents are running away from a cloud of ash.
The second eruption of Mount Sinabung began on November 6, 2013 and then continued for several more days. The volcano ejected columns of ash to a height of up to 3 km, the plume from which spread for tens of kilometers. More than 5,000 people from 7 surrounding villages were evacuated. The Sumatra government has urged people not to approach Mount Sinabung more than 3 km.
In February 2014, a disaster occurred. After the cessation of volcanic activity (in early January), evacuated residents of villages located more than 5 km from the volcano were allowed to return home. But immediately after this, on February 1, a powerful lava eruption and pyroclastic flow killed 16 people.
And to this day, the Sinabung volcano does not calm down: a column of ash and smoke is visible for many kilometers, eruptions of varying strength and duration do not stop and take the lives of brave souls who risked returning to the volcano exclusion zone with a radius of 7 km, which was organized by the Sumatra government after the 2014 disaster.
It is noteworthy that in the exclusion zone you can find entire cities and ghost villages, collapsing, empty, as if the apocalypse had already overtaken the Earth. But there are also brave farmers who continue to live at the foot of Mount Sinabung. What is it that attracts them so much?
Why do people settle near the base of volcanoes?
The soil on the slopes of volcanoes is extremely fertile due to the minerals that enter it with volcanic ash. In warm climates, you can grow more than one crop per year. Therefore, farmers in Sumatra, despite the dangerous proximity of the Sinabung volcano, do not leave their houses and arable land at its foot.
In addition to agriculture, they mine gold, diamonds, ore, and other minerals.
Why is a volcanic eruption dangerous?
A common cliché among people who do not live in geologically active areas is that a volcanic eruption is solely due to the flow of lava that rushes down the side of a mountain. And if a person is lucky enough to find himself or settle and sow crops on the opposite side of it, then the danger has passed. Otherwise, you just need to climb higher on a rock or float on a stone fragment among the lava, like on an ice floe on water, the main thing is not to fall. It’s better to run to the right side of the mountain in time and wait an hour or two.
Lava is definitely deadly. Just like the earthquake that accompanies a volcanic eruption. But the flow moves rather slowly, and a physically fit person is able to escape from it. An earthquake is also not always of large magnitude.
In fact, pyroclastic flows and volcanic ash pose a huge danger.
Pyroclastic flows
The hot gas that escapes from the depths of the volcano picks up stones and ash and sweeps away everything in its path, rushing down. Such flows reach speeds of 700 km/h. For example, you can imagine the Sapsan train at full speed. Its speed is about three times less, but despite this, the picture is quite impressive. The temperature of the gases in the rushing mass reaches 1000 degrees; it can burn all living things along the way in a matter of minutes.
One of the deadliest known in history, immediately killed 28,000 people (according to some sources, up to 40,000 people) in the port of Saint-Pierre on May 8, 1902, in the morning, the Mont Pele volcano, at the foot of which the port was located, after a series of monstrous explosions, threw out a cloud of hot gas and ashes, which in a matter of minutes reached settlement. The pyroclastic flow swept through the city at breakneck speed, and there was no salvation even in the water, which instantly boiled and killed everyone who fell into it from the overturned ships in the harbor. Only one ship managed to get out of the bay.
In February 2014, 14 people were killed in such a flow during the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Sinabung.
Volcanic ash
At the time of the eruption, ash and fairly large stones thrown out by the volcano can burn or cause injury. If we talk about the ash that covers everything around after an eruption, then its consequences are more long-lasting. It is even beautiful in its own way - the post-apocalyptic landscape from the island of Sumatra in the photo below is proof of this.
But ashes are harmful to the health of people and pets. Walking through such a place for a long time without a respirator is deadly. The ash is also very heavy and, especially when mixed with rainwater, can break the roof of a house, causing it to fall on those inside.
In addition to this, in large quantities it is also destructive for agriculture.
Cars, airplanes, water treatment plants, even communication systems - everything breaks down under a layer of ash, which also indirectly poses a danger to people's lives.
Extreme tourism
Not only the farmer, whose reasons are very clear, can be found near the recent epicenter of the eruption. Extreme tourism on the slopes of active volcanoes brings income to the local population. The photo shows an extreme tourist exploring an abandoned city at the foot of Mount Sinabung in the exclusion zone. Behind him, a column of smoke smoking above the volcano is clearly visible.
Man and nature continue to fight an unequal battle with each other!
