Merapi: From lava to lahar

Mount Merapi, in Central Java is one of the world’s most volatile volcano. It had its largest eruption since 1870 (140 years ago) in late October 2010.

350,000 people  living on the volcano’s fertile slopes had to be evacuated during the eruption which spewed hot ash and rocks over a radius of 100 km.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Borobudur, 28 km away from Merapi was not spared and was covered with a layer of ash 1 inch thick. 

Borobudur the greatest  Buddhist monument in the world was built in the 8th century at the height of the Sailendra  Dynasty in Central java.

It  was rediscocvered in the 1814 by Sir Stamford Raffles having been buried under the ashes of Mt  Merapi’s previous eruptions for centuries.

3 months down the road, as Central java is recovering from the disaster,  danger still lurks for the folks living around Merapi as heavy rain has been washing down the cooled ashes called lahar, carrying with it rocks the size of a car down the Putih River running through the town of Jumoyu enroute to Yogyakarta.

Video by KSTan, Citizen Journalist
Photocredit: Introductory 8 pics from boston.com