Descriptive Text
Descriptive Text
Mount Merapi
Mount Merapi is an active stratovolcano located on the
border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the
most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since
1548. It is located approximately 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of the
large Yogyakarta city, and thousands of people live on the flanks of
the volcano, with villages as high as 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) above
sea level.
Smoke can be seen emerging from the mountaintop at least
300 days a year, and several eruptions have caused fatalities.
Pyroclastic flow from a large explosion killed 27 people on 22
November in 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the
volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before
the Yogyakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi
poses to populated areas, it has been designated as one of the
Decade Volcanoes.
On 25 October 2010 the Indonesian government raised the
alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level and warned villagers in
threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a
20 km (12 mi) zone were told to evacuate. Officials said about 500
volcanic earthquakes had been recorded on the mountain over the
weekend of 2324 October, and that the magma had risen to
about 1 kilometre (3,300 ft) below the surface due to the seismic
activity. On the afternoon of 25 October 2010 Mount Merapi
erupted lava from its southern and southeastern slopes.
The mountain was still erupting on 30 November 2010
however due to lowered eruptive activity on 3 December 2010 the
official alert status was reduced to level 3. The volcano is now
2930 metres high, 38 metres lower than before the 2010 eruptions.
Questions
1. What does pyroclastic flow mean?
2. What does Decade Volcanoes mean?
3. Why does the Indonesian government warned the
villagers to move to safer ground?
4. Why was the official alert status reduced to level 3 on
December 2010?
5. How far is Mount Merapi from the city of Yogyakarta?