Death Toll Mounts In Trio of Indonesian Natural Disasters

The death toll continues rising in the aftermath of the trio of natural disasters to strike Indonesia - an erupting Mount Merapi, earthquake, and subsequent tsunami.



Tsunami buoys were vandalized, but it isn't clear that it would have made any difference because of the close proximity between the epicenter of the quake and nearby villages. They may not have had any chance, even if warnings were sounded. Nearly 700 people are missing and presumed to have been swept out to sea. More than 340 others were killed in the combined natural disasters.

Mount Merapi has renewed its eruptions, putting thousands at risk from the ashfall.

More than 20,000 have been displaced.

Indonesia's Mount Merapi Erupts, Killing 30

The volcano continues to spew ash over the surrounding area, but rescue crews have converged on the area looking for those who were injured or killed in the eruption. Some people refused to leave the danger zone, despite warnings from volcanologists of an impending eruption. That included the so-called spiritual guardian of the volcano.

He died in the eruption, along with at least 30 others.

Triple Natural Disasters Rock Indonesia

Indonesia has been rocked by a major earthquake, tsunami and volcanic eruptions in a triple display of nature's power. Villages near Mount Merapi are being urged to evacuate over the potential for a significant eruption. Scientists are concerned that a major eruption could threaten more than 11,000 people living nearby.

A 2-month old baby reportedly died as panicked villagers fled the area.

Up to 20 people were injured by hot ash spewed from Mount Merapi, said an AP reporter who witnessed them being taken away for treatment.

Some 11,400 villagers who live on the 9,737-foot (2,968-metre) -high mountain were urged to evacuate, but only those with four miles (seven kilometers) of the crater were forced by authorities to do so. Most of those who fled were the elderly and children. Some adults said they decided to stay to tend to homes and farms on the fertile slopes.

Private MetroTV reported that the baby died when a mother ran in panic after the eruption started. Its report cited a local doctor and showed the mother weeping as the baby was covered with white blanket at a hospital. The report did not make clear if it was a boy or girl.

That comes after a major 7.5 earthquake rocked the coast near Sumatra, setting off a tsunami. At least 100 were killed and hundreds more were missing when the tsunami swept through the coastal areas. Several major aftershocks were reported above magnitude 6.

Iceland's Volcano Continues Erupting As Europe Reconsiders Flight Bans

The Icelandic volcano continues erupting even as government aviation authorities are reconsidering lifting their flight bans that have resulted in massive delays, cancellations, and stranded passengers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Some flights have resumed, but it will take some time before the backlog of passengers displaced by the canceled flights is cleared. Yet, there's a concern that the eruption could pick up again and threaten to shut down flights across much of northern Europe and the United Kingdom.

Here's some incredible footage of the volcano erupting, which includes multiple lightning strikes and lava bombs erupting out of the gaping maw of the volcano:



The British Navy has come to the rescue of some Britons who were stranded in Europe and couldn't return home to the UK by air:

Volcanic Eruptions Continue Causing Largest Air Travel Disruptions Since 9/11

The continuing eruption of an Icelandic volcano has disrupted European and transatlantic flights for a second straight day, and may disrupt flights for as long as the prevailing winds and the eruption send ash flying into the paths of airliners over Europe.

But he said the microscopic ash was potentially dangerous for people if it starts to "settle" on the earth because inhaled particles can reach the lungs and cause respiratory problems.
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There is a heightened danger for those suffering from asthma and respiratory diseases.

Epstein said the cloud mostly remained high in the atmosphere on Friday but the U.N. health agency was monitoring the situation closely. Some ash blanketed the ground in parts of rural southern Iceland.

Meanwhile the European air navigation agency said air traffic disruptions because of the volcanic ash cloud would last at least another day. The cloud's impact, it said, "will continue for at least the next 24 hours."

Eurocontrol said in a statement that it expected only about 11,000 flights in European airspace Friday, compared with about 28,000 normally. On Thursday, there were 20,334 flights, it said.

German authorities halted flights to 11 of the nation's 16 international airports, including Frankfurt, which is Europe's second busiest, and Duesseldorf. Traffic to airports in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne was also stopped.

In Poland, an official in the presidential administration said the ash cloud may delay Sunday's funeral for Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, though the couple's family later said the services would go ahead. U.S. President Barack Obama and dozens of other world leaders are due to attend the funeral at Krakow's Wawel cathedral in southern Poland. On Friday Krakow airport was one of only two in Poland still open.

British civil aviation authorities said there would be no flights over England until Saturday morning at the earliest.

Flight delays and cancellations may continue through the weekend (or beyond). It all depends on what the volcano does and whether the wind patterns change to allow some flights to resume to the UK. Experts believe that the ash cloud will dissipate within the next few days because it is relatively diffuse at this point. That's good news for those traveling around Europe by air or who have plans to do so in the near term.

Icelandic Volcanic Eruption Causes Transatlantic and European Flight Disruptions

An eruption of a volcano in Iceland is causing major headaches for airlines and passengers attempting to fly across the Atlantic Ocean or in parts of Europe because the ash poses a safety hazard to aircraft. Plane engines could shut down if sufficient quantities of the fine particulates get ingested by the engines and can otherwise affect performance of these aircraft. The photo at right shows the ash cloud hanging over the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland (via Daylife). The ash can be razor sharp, and can melt in the heat of engine compressors only to resolidify causing major damage or shutdown of the engine.

Authorities said it was not even clear when it would be safe enough to fly again. In one sobering prediction, a scientist in Iceland said the ejection of volcanic ash — and therefore the disruptions in air travel — could continue for days or even weeks.

Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said non-emergency flights would be banned in all airports until at least 6 p.m. Irish authorities also closed their air space for at least eight hours, as did aviation authorities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

The move shut down London's five major airports including Heathrow, a major trans-Atlantic hub that handles upwards of 1,200 flights and 180,000 passengers per day. Shutdowns and cancellations spread to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland.

In Iceland, hundreds of people have fled rising floodwaters since the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted Wednesday for the second time in less than a month. As water gushed down the mountainside, rivers rose up to 10 feet (3 meters) by Wednesday night, slicing the island nation's main road in half.

The volcano still spewed ash and steam today, but the floods had subsided. Some ash was falling on uninhabited areas, but most was being blown by westerly winds toward northern Europe, including Britain, about 1,200 milesaway.

The volcano's smoke and ash poses a threat to aircraft because it can affect visibility, and microscopic debris can get sucked into airplane engines and can cause them to shut down.

At the moment all air traffic into Heathrow Airport in London is shut down for the rest of the day, but there's no indication that the situation may change. It all depends on the continuing eruption and the wind direction of the ash cloud.

UPDATE:
NASA satellite data was tracking the volcano's emissions from March, and found that:

[l]ess than 24 hours after the satellite's first observation, the JPL team confirmed the volcano was emitting more than one billion watts of energy -- enough to power 40,000 passenger cars at the same time -- and discharging more than six tons of lava per second.

That sounds like a pretty impressive amount of power, but I'm still looking to see what kind of chemical emissions are being pumped out and in what quantities. Large volcanic eruptions can have climatic effects regionally and globally, so if this eruption continues it could have repercussions beyond that which has already been seen in air travel disruptions. This page provides some historical context and more technical data, but not a measure of emissions.

UPDATE:
As I mentioned previously, this MSNBC report indicates that the Icelandic volcanic eruption has the potential to affect regional and global climate. It hasn't quite reached levels affecting climate globally, but local effects may include acidification of watersheds due to fallout from the eruption.

Hiker Falls Into Mt. St. Helens

A 52-year old man was hiking along the rim of Mt. St. Helens when he fell more than 1,500 feet into the crater of the active volcano yesterday. Rescue crews were dispatched but had to call off the search due to weather and darkness.

Rescuers have resumed the search this morning for 52-year-old Joseph Bohlig of Kelso, but conditions remain dangerous. A request for a military helicopter was put in because of the dangerous situation.

According to his climbing partners, Bohlig was experienced and this was his 68th ascent of the mountain.

UPDATE:
The military is flying a helicopter in to assist in the rescue, and it appears that the hiker was posing for a picture when the cornice he was standing gave way.