Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano killed at least 34 people and caused thousands to flee the volcano’s clouds of super-heated debris and ash when it erupted this week. Nearby residents on Java had been warned for days that the mountain was building toward a violent eruption. But nearly 15,000 refused to leave their homes. Most of the fatalities occurred when pyroclastic flows cascaded down Merapi’s slopes only eight minutes after the initial eruption. A 2006 eruption of the 9,737-foot mountain killed only two people. Merapi is one of Indonesia’s most active and dangerous volcanoes. It has produced more lava flows than perhaps any other volcano in the world.
Information with thanks from http://www.earthweek.com/
