Date: Thu, 01 Dec 94 13:53:41 -0800
Subject: MERAPI ERUPTION (INDONESIA)
Newsgroup:  sci.geo.geology
Fwd From:   kelleyst@technet.sg (kelleyst@technet.sg)

The following is from the main English language daily here in Singapore, the
"Straits Times", Thursday, November 24, 1994:

PAKEM (Indonesia) -- Ms. Notodjojo was still dazed yesterday, some 24 hours
after Indonesia's Mount Merapi destroyed her home in a furious swirl which
killed at least 35 people and injured hundreds of others.

"It happened so quickly, the first two eruptions were brief but the third was
long and furious," Ms. Notodjojo, 37, told Reuters at a makeshift refugee camp
in Pakem, 20 km from the Central Javanese town of Yogyakarta.

She was alone when Merapi -- or Fiery Mountain -- erupted on Tuesday and was
unable to save more than a handful of clothes as she was whisked away from her
home by government workers and volunteers.

The volcano spewed heat clouds 35 times within 12 hours, some reaching as far
as 6 km down the slope, along the rivers of Krasak and Boyong.

Many of those killed and injured on Tuesday were burnt by searing steam,
including guests at a wedding party which took place despite warnings.

The vulcanology office said temperatures in the worst-affected village of Turgo
reached 600 degrees Centigrade.  An official at the office said the mountain
was now calm, but further eruptions could occure any time.  
--- Reuter, AFP.