Mount Merapi has erupted for the second time in days. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Days after a devastating earthquake and consequent eruption, Mount Merapi has erupted again in Indonesia. The second Mount Merapi eruption comes days after the first eruption, which killed more than 30 people in an already battered area. The recent undersea Indonesia earthquake has devastated the area. The quake triggered a tsunami, flooding and a volcanic eruption, and hundreds are dead or missing. Aid is starting to pour into the area.
Second Mount Merapi eruption
Mount Merapi, a volcano on the island of Java, has erupted for the second time. The previous eruption occurred just two days previous, according to the BBC. In the initial eruption, 32 people were killed, most succumbing either to burns or to suffocation from the gases. At least 20 of those people were buried in a communal grave outside of Sidorejo, which is south of the volcano. Among the deceased was Maridjan, a local elder who was considered the spiritual guardian of the volcano. Following the second eruption, aid workers and victims in the area have begun to show respiratory symptoms as a result of exposure, and aid workers are still searching for possible victims of the initial blast.
Aid slow to enter the region
Aid and relief efforts have been slow going. Efforts to aid victims of the Indonesia earthquake have been impeded by severe flooding and the battered terrain. The journey into the hardest hit areas, such as the Pagai Islands, takes nearly a day in the best conditions, according to CNN. The Indonesian tsunami battered the islands of Sumatra and Java, and the vulnerable outlying islands have been the hardest hit areas of all. More than of 400 people have been killed as a result of the earthquake and tsunami, and more than 300 are missing. Thousands are homeless.
UN and nonprofits send aid
The United Nations, as well as a host of non-profits, such as SurfAid are sending relief workers and supplies. The aftermath of the volcanic eruptions, earthquake and tsunami will take some time to mend.
