Summary OCR Geography A Level - HAZARDOUS EARTH case study - Indonesia volcanic eruption

VOLCANIC ERUPTION – INDONESIA (LIDC)
VOLCANOLOGY

 80 active volcanoes eg Mount Merapi, Krakatoa
 Island arc formed by subduction of Indo-Australian under Eurasian

WHY PEOPLE LIVE THERE

 Fertile soils on slopes of volcanoes  terraced to allow for farming
 Vast geothermal energy potential – renewable resource
 LIDC so no other choice
 Indonesia’s history and culture are closely tied to volcanoes
 ¾ of population live within 100km of an active volcano

SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND POLITICAL IMPACTS OF ERUPTION – Merapi 2010 (VEI 4)

Social

 367 people killed, 277 injured, 410,000 became refugees
 Evacuation centres were overcrowded leading to poor sanitation, no privacy and serious disease risk

Economic

 Livestock killed and crops destroyed  significant as 40% employed in agriculture
 Closure of airport for 2 weeks
 70% decline in tourism - $1 billion lost in tourist revenue  significant as island is dependent on tourism and
makes up a huge part of the economy and employment
o President went to Bali to aim to re-attract tourists

Environmental

 Pyroclastic flows up to 15 km, huge lahars, volcanic bomb.
 Emissions of sulphur dioxide caused acid rain  further damage to buildings and farmland.

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

Modify event itself

 Authorities have cleared river channels of volcanic material to reduce risk of flooding and to contain lahars
which are biggest threat (large quantities of ash erupted and high levels of precipitation)

Modify vulnerability

 CVGHM  set up observatories on several active volcanoes – 60 volcanoes monitored
 CVGHM also works closely with local governmentsadvises them on mitigation eg community preparedness
 Permanent settlement is forbidden on highest slopes of Merapi.
 Villagers on southern slope (most vulnerable) have been encouraged to locate to safe zones  given
financial assistance and plots of land as incentives
 However, hard to prepare well due to poor funding due to weak economy and LIDC status. Also managing
volcanoes is a low priority as Indonesia has many other problems eg political tension since independence.
Also, large problem is that people have strong emotional attachment to their home  willing to take risks.

Modify losses

 Limited resources to deploy following an eruption
o Rescue operations not as advanced – rescue vehicles not well equipped (Iceland = v advanced)
o Paper masks are distributed (lceland = sophisticated masks)
 Some well-trained emergency services eg military but not as large scale and equipped as Iceland
 Many villagers urged to leave but only those within 4 miles were forced to do so