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Mount Semeru’s Eruption: the Events and the Aftermath
- Oceane Le Ny
- Dec 17, 2021
- 2 min read
On December 6th, Indonesians around the island of Java experienced the eruption of Mount Semeru, a brutal and disastrous eruption that was drastically different from past ones of this active volcano. To Indonesians, volcanic activity comes as no surprise seeing as they live in the Ring of Fire, a ring-shaped region of the Pacific Ocean. Yet usually the eruptions are mild and the population is able to deal with the aftermath. The eruption of Mount Semeru, however, proved to be different.
After days of heavy torrents, the volcano’s dome had significantly decreased in size, which was a worrying sight for nearby residents. The dome, in the form of hardened lava, collapsed in the rain and had started an “avalanche”, which is said to have been the major cause for the volcano’s eruption.
Following the event, nearby residents were forced into unimaginable living conditions. Houses were buried under ash, forests were wiped out, and the air quality was unbearable. Many fled their villages hoping to escape the suffocating smoke, but were unsuccessful in doing so. The death count rose above 20 in the days that followed, according to Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management, and this number slowly begins to increase as time ticks on. Several people have gone missing, and hundreds – if not thousands – have been displaced. There are still many people who have not been found by search parties, and the hope of finding these supposed survivors is rare. One resident of Lumajang stated that 10 people from his village were carried out by a mud flow.
As of yet, over 1,000 people have been evacuated from around the affected areas, and those who were badly injured are currently being treated in medical facilities, which is nothing short of great news. This is impressive, especially considering it has been hard for search parties to get through the debris, mud, heavy rains, and broken bridges (like the one in Malang that collapsed during the volcanic eruption). In addition to this, there are a large number of power outages that prevent rescue shelters from properly hosting survivors and giving them the care they need to recover from the eruption.
Because of the support the locals are showing, the help that people are giving in order to find survivors, and the supplies that medical facilities are given to aid those in need of it, things are looking up for Indonesians. All we can hope for is a quick recovery and the hope that this kind of harsh eruption won’t happen again.
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