YS World: Merapi Volcano--Central Java, Indonesia

Hello again my fellow readers..

It's good to be back. it has been a while since my last post.
Hope that I'm back with a good story (^^)

This time I will bring it the incident of Merapi eruption in October 2010 last year.
I 've been there for some donation activities and I also managed capturing some pictures of the refugees and the condition in the evacuation's site.

Before I put some pics, here some basic information about Merapi Volcano.

Merapi is the youngest in a group of volcanoes in southern Java. Typically, small eruptions occur every two to three years, and larger ones every 10–15 years or so. In addition, Merapi is very important to Javanese, especially those living around its crater. As such, there are many myths and beliefs attached to Merapi.*

some kids show happiness & togetherness after getting bowls of noodles

An old man is sleeping in evacuation site

Some donations from communities

The refugees are queuing for medical check up

On 25 October 2010 the Indonesian government raised the alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level (4) and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) zone were told to evacuate. The evacuation orders affected at least 19,000 people; however, the number that complied at the time remained unclear to authorities.*

Destruction motorcycle caused by the volcano's ash

As of 3 December 2010, at 09.00 am, the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM) lowered the status of Mount Merapi to the level of "Caution Alert (Level III). They clarified that with this alert level the potential of hot ash clouds and projected incandescent material remained.*

Happy smile after getting donation

An innocent joyful laugh of a little kid knowing her dad getting some donation stuff

It's a tense , touching, and wonderful experience to be around them. Some old woman told me when she went back to her house in a slope of the mountain which was dangerous at that moment, she heard the mountain rumbled and about to vomit the hot lava and ash. She had to run and run and run to save her life. She also said that now she often had a nightmare because of that incident. What I could do was to console and comfort her as best that I could.

Before I forget, we had to wear mask and safety goggle to prevent the ash particles go inside your lungs and eyes.