Living with Volcanoes
National Geographic features life in Indonesia in the shadow of smoldering Mount Merapi. Columns of noxious gas and jittery seismographs signal an imminent explosion. The government has ordered a full-scale evacuation, but many residents have refused to leave.
Merapi, whose name means “fire mountain,” is a natural-born killer. Rising almost 10,000 feet, it ranks among the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes. An eruption in 1930 killed more than 1,300 people. The surrounding area is frequently affected by lava flows, rockfalls, and toxic gases.
Nowhere else do so many live so close to so many active volcanoes—129 by one count. On Java alone, 120 million people live in the shadow of more than 30 active volcanoes.
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