No more survivors on New Zealand island after volcano eruption

Yahoo – AFP, Neil SANDS, with Holly Robertson in Sydney, December 9, 2019

A photo courtesy of Michael Schade shows the volcano on New Zealand's White
Island spewing steam and ash moments after it erupted (AFP Photo/Handout, Handout)

New Zealand police have said no more survivors were expected to be rescued from an island volcano that erupted suddenly on Monday, suggesting as many as two dozen people could have died.

Police said some 50 people were visiting White Island when it exploded in the early afternoon -- hurling ash and rock high into the air.

Some 23 people made it off the island, five of whom have since died, the rest were being treated for injuries, including severe burns.

It was earlier estimated the number still on the island was in double digits.

Police said early Tuesday that despite several aerial reconnaissance flights to try and find those trapped "no signs of life have been seen at any point."

"Based on the information we have, we do not believe there are any survivors on the island. Police is working urgently to confirm the exact number of those who have died."

As night fell, deputy commissioner John Tims said volcanic activity made a rescue attempts by land too dangerous.

"I've got to consider the safety of our people and emergency services staff," he said.

This combination of handout images from a webcam belonging to the Institute of 

Geological and Nuclear Sciences shows the volcano on New Zealand's White 

Island spewing steam and ash (AFP Photo/Handout)

The New Zealand military is expected to make a pass of the island at first light in the hope that people may have survived against the odds.

The eruption occurred just after 2pm (0100 GMT), thrusting a thick plume of white ash 3.6 kilometres (12,000 feet) into the sky.

Seconds before, live camera feeds showed a group of more than a half dozen people walking on the crater floor. Then the images went black.

A "considerable number" of those caught up in the disaster are believed to be Australian, according to officials in Canberra.

As many as 30 of those involved are also believed to be cruise passengers on a day trip from the vessel Ovation of the Seas, Kevin O'Sullivan, chief executive officer of industry body the New Zealand Cruise Association told AFP.

The ship's operator Royal Caribbean -- who had billed the trip to White Island as "an unforgettable guided tour of New Zealand's most active volcano" -- said "a number of our guests were touring the island" but did not confirm that number.

The ship has a capacity of around 4,000 people and set sail from Sydney last week on a 12 day voyage.

This handout photograph courtesy of Michael Schade shows wreckage of a 

helicopter amid ash minutes after the volcano erupted (AFP Photo/Handout)

Scene of terror

Tourist Michael Schade, made it off the island just in time and was able to capture footage of the devastation.

His videos showed groups of startled tourists clustered by the shoreline, waiting to be evacuated as the ground around them smouldered, the sky filled with white debris. An ash-caked helicopter lay damaged nearby.

Volcanic Air said they had landed a helicopter on the island shortly before the eruption carrying four visitors and one pilot. All were now accounted for.

"It had landed on the island. What happened after that we don't know, but we know that all five made it back to Whakatane on one of the tourist boats," a company spokesman told AFP.

Guillaume Calmelet, the co-director of Skydive Tauranga, saw the eruption from above as he took a customer on a tandem skydive from a plane 12,000 feet above the Bay of Plenty.

"As soon as the parachute opened there was this huge cloud that was really different to whatever we've seen before," he told AFP. "I could see it coming out in freefall, so probably about 30 seconds for the whole cloud to form, if that. It was pretty quick."

Map locating an erupting volcano in New Zealand. (AFP Photo)

The country's National Emergency Management Agency described the eruption as "moderate", although the plume of ash was clearly visible from the mainland and from satellites flying overhead.

White Island -- - also known as Whakaari -- is about 50 kilometres (30 miles) offshore in the picturesque Bay of Plenty and is popular with adventurous tourists willing to don hard hats and gas masks.

It is New Zealand's most active volcano cone and about 70 percent of it is underwater, according to government-backed agency GeoNet.

Around 10,000 people visit the volcano every year. It has erupted frequently over the last half-century, most recently in 2016.

In August of that year the New Zealand Defence Force airlifted a 2.4-tonne shipping container onto the island to serve as an emergency shelter in case of an eruption.

Volcano erupts on remote southern Japanese island

Police have ordered a small island in southern Japan evacuated after a volcano erupted on Friday. The volcano blasted a huge column of ash high into the sky, but officials said there is no threat to human life.

Deutsche Welle, 29 May 2015

Mount Shindake erupted at about 10 a.m. shooting towering black-gray plumes of smoke and ash into the sky.

There were no injuries reported, although the Japan Meteorological Agency reported that pyroclastic flows from the volcano had reached the shore to the northwest.

Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Toshihide Suga said there was no threat to human life after the eruption.

Japan volcano eruption triggers highest alert, evacuation advisory. VIDEO: http://t.co/QtkNJzy5NP pic.twitter.com/jsJeVjHiiN

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) 29 mei 2015

About 140 people live on Kuchinoerabu island in the Ryukyu archipelago, which is approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of the main southern island of Kyushu.

Japan's national broadcaster NHK reported local officials as saying that 80 residents had taken refuge in a shelter on the island.

Kuchinoerabu island is only accessible by ferry. It runs once a day from Yakushima island which has an airport and a population of more than 13,000 people.

Shindake also erupted in August last year for the first time since 1980.

av/bw (AP, AFP, Reuters)

New Japan volcano island 'natural lab' for life

Yahoo – AFP, Kyoko Hasegawa, 17 May 2015

The newly-created Nishinoshima island at the Ogasawara island chain, 

1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo, pictured on March 25, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Tokyo (AFP) - A brand new island emerging off the coast of Japan offers scientists a rare opportunity to study how life begins to colonise barren land -- helped by rotting bird poo and hatchling vomit.

Researchers say bird waste will be the secret ingredient to kickstart Mother Nature's grand experiment on what is a still active volcano that only poked its head above the waves in November 2013.

That speck of land, some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) south of Tokyo, has grown to engulf its once larger neighbour, Nishinoshima, a part of Japan's Ogasawara island chain known for the wealth and variety of its ecosystem.

The new Nishinoshima, a respectable 2.46 square kilometres (0.95 square miles), the Japan Coast Guard said in February -- roughly the size of 345 football pitches -- is currently almost all bare rock, formed from cooling lava.

But scientists say it will one day be humming with plant -- and possibly animal -- life, as nature moves in to what is being called a "natural laboratory" on one of the latest bits of real estate in the Pacific Ocean.

"We biologists are very much focusing on the new island because we'll be able to observe the starting point of evolutionary processes," said Naoki Kachi, professor and leader of Tokyo Metropolitan University's Ogasawara Research Committee.

After the volcanic activity calms down, "what will probably happen first will be the arrival of plants brought by ocean currents and attached to birds' feet," he said.

Those seabirds, who could use the remote rock as a temporary resting place, could eventually set up home there.

Their excreta -- along with their dropped feathers, regurgitated bits of food and rotting corpses -- will eventually form a nutrient-rich soil that offers fertile ground for seeds carried by the wind, or brought in the digestive systems of overflying birds.

"I am most interested in the effects of birds on the plants' ecosystem -- how their bodily wastes-turned-organic fertilisers enrich the vegetation and how their activities disturb it," Kachi told AFP.

The old Nishinoshima, measuring just 0.22 square kilometres, was home to bird colonies until the eruptions scared the creatures away.

A small number have clung on to the only patch of the old island that is still visible, making their nests among ash-covered plants.

Pristine

Japan, which sits at the junction of several tectonic plates, is home to more than 100 active volcanoes.

The newly-created Nishinoshima island at the Ogasawara island chain, 

1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo, pictured on April 27, 2015 (AFP Photo/)

Scientists have no idea when Nishinoshima will stop spewing lava, but its expansion is being offset by erosion around the edges.

The island is expected to follow a route laid out by Surtsey, an island that emerged from the sea in 1963, around 30 kilometres from the coast of Iceland.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage spot is known globally as an outstanding example of a pristine natural laboratory where researchers have been able to trace the evolution of a habitat.

"Since they began studying the island in 1964, scientists have observed the arrival of seeds carried by ocean currents, the appearance of moulds, bacteria and fungi, followed in 1965 by the first vascular plant," UNESCO says on its website.

"By 2004, (vascular plants) numbered 60, together with 75 bryophytes, 71 lichens and 24 fungi. Eighty-nine species of birds have been recorded on Surtsey, 57 of which breed elsewhere in Iceland. The 141 hectare island is also home to 335 species of invertebrates."

Not bad for somewhere that has only existed for half a century.

Nishinoshima might not be quite as quick as Surtsey to establish itself as a teeming wildlife haven -- it is a long way from mainland Japan and not too close to its neighbours in the Ogasawara island chain, which limits the number of species of birds and seeds that will make it that far.

Nonetheless, it is an exciting blank canvas, said Kachi, and needs to be treated with respect -- which means keeping out foreign invaders that would not naturally drift or fly in.

"I'd like to call on anyone who lands on the island to pay special attention to keeping it the way it is -- not to take external species there," he warned.

He said when he conducted a field study on another island in the chain in 2007, his team prepared a fumigated clean room where they packed all research equipment, after making sure everything they had was either brand new or scrupulously clean.

While Nishinoshima is currently only being monitored from the air, the first field researchers will need to take similar precautions.

"Biologists know the business, but probably the first batch of scientists who will land on the island will be geologists and vulcanologists -- who may not be familiar with the problems," he said.

"I'd be pleased to offer advice on this to scientists in other fields."

Dramatic Papua New Guinea volcano quietens

Yahoo – AFP, 30 Aug 2014

Mount Tavurvur erupting in eastern Papua New Guinea, Aug 29 2014.

(AFP Photo: Oliver Bluett)

A volcano which has erupted in Papua New Guinea was Saturday spewing fragments from its crater and rumbling loudly, but its activity appeared to be subsiding, a seismologist said.

Mount Tavurvur, which destroyed the town of Rabaul when it erupted simultaneously with nearby Mount Vulcan in 1994, came to life again early Friday, with rocks and ash erupting from its centre.

Security officials man a check-point to alert 

residents following the eruption of Mount 

Tavurvur in eastern Papua New Guinea on 

August 30, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ness Kerton)

The eruptions on the remote island of New Britain in eastern PNG thrust plumes of ash into the air, prompting local evacuations and international flights to modify their routes.

"At the moment we are getting only discrete explosions," Jonathan Kuduon, a senior seismologist at the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory, told AFP.

"The activity has subsided," he said, adding that the fragments were reaching less than 200 metres (600 feet) above the crater.

"These small explosions are usually accompanied by noise."

So far there have been no reports of injuries or damage, but the volcano continued to boom and spew lava overnight and parts of Rabaul are blanketed in ash and pumice stone.

Kuduon said Mount Tavurvur remained a concern, saying officials were worried about the amount of ash in parts of Rabaul, but the kind of eruption -- Strombolian (low-level) -- meant it could subside quickly.

"I think from Tavurvur you can expect small eruptions to go on yet. You can still expect eruptions from that volcano but not from Vulcan," he said.

"Looking at past eruptions, I think the eruptions are getting less and less. Which simply means that the volcano is dying out."

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in the northern Australian city of Darwin said it was keeping a close eye on the situation after Friday's eruption which saw ash reach 60,000 feet (18,000 metres) which is flight level.

"The last two big eruptions at Rabaul, you've had the Tavurvur eruptions first and then one in a fairly close time period you've had Vulcan erupt," official Cyndee Seals told AFP.

But Kuduon said he was not overly concerned about Mount Vulcan erupting.

Youths wearing masks plays among ash

 spewed after the eruption of Mount 

Tavurvur in eastern Papua New Guinea on

August 30, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ness Kerton)

This crater rumbled to life with Tavurvur in 1994, with the eruptions destroying much of Rabaul, with falling ash causing buildings to collapse. While loss of life was minimal, looters ransacked the evacuated town.

"In 1994 you had eruptions from Vulcan that went (on) for nearly two weeks and then the volcano just shut of," Kuduon said.

The seismologist said the people of Rabaul were now waiting for the eruptions from the 688-metre (2,270-foot) Tavurvur crater to stop completely.

"We need to go back to our normal life. So long as we have eruptions going it will affect our normal life. We only wish that the volcano can go back to sleep now," he said.

PNG sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where high volcanic and seismic activity is the norm.

The Post-Courier reported that Rabaul port was temporarily closed Friday as a precautionary measure.

Nishima-Shima volcano (Japan): submarine volcanic eruption gives birth to new island

Volcano Discovery, Nov 20, 2013

Surtseyan activity near Nishima-Shima
 Island where a new island was formed
 (Japanese Coast Guard via Blog Culture
Volcan)

A new island was born today in the Pacific Ocean in Japan's Izu (or Volcano) island chain. It is produced by a new submarine eruption which is currently taking place about 500 m southeast of Nishino-Shima island.

The eruption was first spotted by Japanese navy this morning at 10:20 (local time) who documented surtseyan activity at the eruption site (explosive interaction of sea-water and lava, generating violent jets of steam and ash). It appears that the eruption has already built an island of about 200 m diameter in size, which suggests that the vent was already located in very shallow waters.

A small steam and ash plume rising to about 2000 ft (600 m) was reported by VAAC Tokyo. The last known eruption of the volcano occurred in 1973 .

Vast volcanic 'raft' found in Pacific, near New Zealand

BBC News, 10 August 2012 

A navy officer described the floating spectacle as the "weirdest thing"

he had seen at sea

Related Stories 

• Rise and fall of marine volcano
• Rock rafts 'life origin' floated
• Thera eruption was bigger still

A vast "raft" of volcanic rock covering 10,000 sq miles (26,000 sq km) of ocean has been spotted by a New Zealand military aircraft.

A naval ship was forced to change course in order to avoid the cluster of buoyant rocks, located 1,000 miles off the New Zealand coast.

The unusual phenomenon was probably the result of pumice being released from an underwater volcano, experts said.

One navy officer described it as the "weirdest thing" he had seen at sea.

Lieutenant Tim Oscar told the AFP news agency: "As far ahead as I could observe was a raft of pumice moving up and down with the swell.

"The [top of the] rock looked to be sitting two feet above the surface of the waves and lit up a brilliant white colour. It looked exactly like the edge of an ice shelf," the officer said.

Researchers aboard the ship, HMNZS Canterbury, suggest that the source of the pumice was an underwater volcano (seamount) known as Monowai, located to the north of New Zealand.

The pumice is likely to have been formed when lava from the seamount came into contact with seawater, and as it is less dense that water it quickly rises to the surface of the ocean.

Related Articles:

Pacific Quake Swarm Sparked Underwater Volcano Eruption

Belgium-sized mass of volcanic rocks floating off coast of New Zealand

Towering undersea volcano mapped off Indonesia

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Jakarta | Mon, 07/12/2010 6:18 PM

A 3,000m volcano deep below the water's surface has been discovered off Indonesia's Sulawesi island. Photograph: Irwin Fedriansyah/AP

Scientists on a deep-sea expedition off Indonesia have discovered a towering volcano: It rises 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) from the ocean floor, yet remains far from sight at the water's surface.

U.S. and Indonesian researchers, using a powerful sonar system and a robotic vehicle with high-definition video, are exploring terrain off Sulawesi island in hopes of getting a glimpse into complex and little-known marine ecosystems.

They have mapped 2,400-sq.-miles (6,200 sq.-kilometers) of sea floor since setting off last month, an area equal to the size of the U.S. state of Delaware, according to a news release from the American embassy in Jakarta.

They found one undersea volcano that rises more than 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) in water 18,000-feet- (5,480-meters-) deep, said Jim Holden, the chief U.S. scientist for the first leg of the joint expedition.

"This is a huge undersea volcano," he said, "taller than all but three or four mountains in Indonesia."

The researchers hope the maps and video produced from the journey will pave the way for others who want to follow up on their preliminary findings.

"The more we understand these undersea features and the communities of life they support, the better we can manage and protect the ocean and its resources," said Holden, a microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Sugiarta Wirasantosa, the chief Indonesian scientist for the expedition, said the research could contribute to protecting ecosystems that support fisheries.

The expedition concludes on August 14.

Related Article:

Another Gigantic Undersea Volcano Found Off Coast of Indonesia [IMAGE]

RI-US group to explore undersea volcanoes

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 06/24/2010 10:24 AM

Indonesian and US scientists have began joint deep-sea explorations in the Sangihe-Talaud Islands of North Sulawesi today to study submarine volcanoes and their surrounding environments.

An Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry official and coordinator of the Indonesian scientists, Sugiarta Wirasantosa, on Wednesday said the explorations were necessary because Indonesian waters largely remained a mystery to scientists.

Deep sea studies had been conducted on between 10 and 15 percent of Indonesia’s waters, he said, which covered an area more than twice the size its land territories, and these studies were limited to several areas.

“This time we are going to explore the deep sea up to 5,000 meters below sea level and learn about predominantly submarine volcanoes, their environment and biota,” Sugiarta told The Jakarta Post.

“We still have sketchy idea about what goes on under the sea, for example volcanic activity, earthquakes and creatures living there. There are so many aspects to learn about,” he said.

The explorations, which will take a month, involve around 32 Indonesian scientists and 12 US scientists from different fields, including biology, chemistry, ocean geology, volcanology, oceanography, geodesy and fishery.

The Indonesian scientists come from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) in Jakarta, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Jakarta, the Marine Geology Research and Development Center in West Java’s Bandung, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and Sam Ratulangi University in North Sulawesi.

Sugiarta said the group would be using two vessels — the Okeanos Explorer of the US and the Baruna Jaya IV of Indonesia.

“Baruna Jaya will take the samples we need for research,” said Sugiarta.

“All samples collected will be reviewed here in Indonesia.”

Indonesia would benefit from not only technology, but also the latest developments in science from the Indonesia-US cooperation, Sugiarta said.

From Washington, Craig McLean, the official responsible for the execution of ocean exploration at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the Associated Press that the explorations would allow scientists to better understand the formation and process of tsunamis through a high-resolution map of the ocean floor.

Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran top world disaster risk rankings

Google/AFP

PARIS — Bangladesh, Indonesia and Iran are the countries that are the most vulnerable to natural disasters, according to a study released on Thursday.

Asia's twin giants, China and India, join them in the 15 countries that, out of 229, are rated as "extreme" risk.

The Natural Disasters Risk Index (NDRI) is compiled by a British risk advisory firm, Maplecroft, on the basis of disasters that occurred from 1980 to 2010.

It draws on a basket of indicators, including the number and frequency of these events, the total deaths that were caused and the death toll as a proportion of the country's population.

Disasters include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, storms, flooding, drought, landslides, heatwaves and epidemics.

"Poverty is an important factor in countries where both the frequency and impacts of natural disasters are severe," said Maplecroft's environmental analyst, Anna Moss.

"Poor infrastructure, plus dense overcrowding in high-risk areas like flood plains, river banks, steep slopes and reclaimed land, continually result in high casualty figures."

According to the NDRI's figures, Bangladesh has suffered more than 191,000 fatalities as a result of natural disasters in the past 30 years, and Indonesia a nearly equal number, the vast majority of which were inflicted by the December 2004 tsunami.

In Iran, the big vulnerability factor is earthquakes, which claimed 74,000 lives over this period.

India, ranked 11th, lost 141,000 lives -- including 50,000 to earthquakes, 40,000 to floods, 15,000 to epidemics and 23,000 to storms -- while the tally in China, rated 12th, was 148,000 lives, of which 87,000 were lost in the 2008 Sichuan quake.

Three G8 countries are considered "high risk," the next category down from "extreme."

They are France (17th in the overall rankings) and Italy (18th), which were hit by killer heatwaves in 2003 and 2006, and the United States (37th), whacked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The countries least at risk are Andorra, Bahrain, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Qatar, San Marino and the United Arab Emirates.

Moss pointed to experts' warnings of the impact of climate change on rainfall. Disruption of weather patterns is predicted to lead to more frequent and bigger episodes of drought and flood.

"Our research highlights the need for even the wealthiest countries to focus on disaster risk reduction," she said.

Related Article:

Indonesia Ranks as Second-Riskiest Place in World for Natural Disasters

After the Aceh Quake, Mud Volcano Causes Concern

Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, April 26, 2010

A new undersea mud volcano is erupting off Aceh following a massive earthquake there earlier this month, a 15-member geological assessment team sent to the province has confirmed.

Officials, however, were quick to add that the new volcano was unlikely to pose a threat.

“Based on our visual observations, the volcano is not dangerous. But we are going to conduct an in-depth analysis this week of the samples we collected, so we will have a definitive answer,” said Ridwan Djamaluddin, director for mitigation and regional development at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT).

Ridwan said the volcano, located near Banyak Island off the coast of Singkil district, was currently 30 meters in diameter and eight meters tall.

Local residents have claimed the seabed in the area has risen dramatically since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake on April 7.

Before the quake, the waters around Gosong Turak reef were 20 meters to 30 meters deep, but now were just five, said Mufliadi, a Banyak Island resident.

Villagers have reported seeing an undersea fissure spewing out mud and rocks, and are worried an undersea volcano could be forming, he said.

Mufliadi said the phenomenon was first noted a week after the earthquake by a fisherman who had been trawling for sea cucumbers in the waters around Pailana Island, just off Banyak Island.

“He was shocked and came back to tell us what he had seen because that site is a prime fishing spot for local fishermen,” but now there are no fish there, Mufliadi said.

The geologists, who traveled to the province last week at the request of Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, confirmed there were no fish in the area.

“The fish around the area have gone and the water has become turbid,” Ridwan said, adding that the water temperature had risen from 27 degrees Celsius to 32 degrees.

To prevent worried residents from fleeing the area, Ridwan said the team would work quickly to analyze the samples it had collected.

“We still have to conduct an in-depth analysis of this,” he said, adding that if the mud and rocks contained methane, it would be dangerous.

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Scientists Discover Underwater Asphalt Volcanoes

Undersea Anomalies in Aceh to be Studied

Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, April 18, 2010

A special geological assessment team will be sent to Aceh to see whether the strong 7.2-magnitude earthquake this month had significantly altered the geography of the area.

Ridwan Djamaluddin, director for mitigation and regional development at the State Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), said on Sunday that a team of 15 researchers from the BPPT was expected to arrive in Aceh Singkil district on Wednesday.

Residents on Banyak Island, off Aceh Singkil, which was near the epicenter of the quake on April 7, have claimed that the seabed has risen dramatically since the temblor. Undersea fissures were also reportedly spewing out mud and rocks.

“We will be observing the area and the team will be coordinating with the local government as soon as they arrive, collecting the data they need and making their assessment,” Ridwan said, adding that Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf had invited the agency to visit the site.

“The Acehnese governor tells us that local people are starting to get worried and they are thinking of moving to a safer place,” he said. “We are going to tell them if it is actually dangerous or not after conducting a thorough analysis.”

Banyak islander Mufliadi previously said that the changes in the seabed were first noted on Tuesday by a fisherman who had been trawling for sea cucumbers in the Gosong Turak waters around Pailana Island, one of the many islets in the chain.

“He was shocked and came back to tell us what he’d seen because the site is a prime fishing spot for local fishermen” but no fish were found in the once abundant area, he said.

Before the quake, the waters at Gosong Turak were 20 to 30 meters deep, but now stood at just five meters, Mufliadi said. He said the villagers were concerned an undersea volcano could be forming.

Ridwan said the assessment team would also visit the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra to help prepare a tsunami warning system for the area.

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BPPT to install tsunami early warning buoy in Aceh

Fearful Aceh Islanders Tell of Massive Sea Change in the Wake of Earthquake

BPPT to install tsunami early warning buoy in Aceh

Antara News, Sunday, April 18, 2010 18:54 WIB

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) is to install a tsunami early warning buoy in the Simeulue waters, Aceh province, early next week.

"We plan to arrive in the waters off Simeulue`s northern coast early next week to install the tsunami early warning buoy," the chief of a team aboard research vessel Baruna Jaya III, Iyan Turyana, said on Saturday.

He made the remark when receiving Aceh Deputy Governor Muhammad Nazar aboard the research vessel which had just arrived in Aceh after installing a tsunami early warning buoy in the waters of Mentawi islands, West Sumatra province.

The research vessel with 22 researchers and 17 crew members aboard is expected to leave Malahayati pier in Aceh Besar district for the Simeulue waters on Sunday.

The tsunami early warning buoy called Ina buoy is assembled by BPPT. The equipment is capable of detecting signs of whether or not there is quake vibration in the sea.

The Ina buoy which was for the first time developed in Indonesia in 2006 consists of buoy unit and bottom unit.

The buoy unit to be installed in the Simeulue waters will float on the sea surface and the bottom unit will be placed 15 meters below the sea surface. The equipment will any time send signs of natural movement beneath the sea and later send the information to the monitoring station at the BPPT by satellite.

Most of Aceh`s coastal areas was devastated by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake on December 26, 2004, killing around 200,000 people.

The province was again rocked by a powerful quake on April 7, 2010.

Related Article:

Fearful Aceh Islanders Tell of Massive Sea Change in the Wake of Earthquake

Fearful Aceh Islanders Tell of Massive Sea Change in the Wake of Earthquake

Jakarta Globe, Nurdin Hasan, April 15, 2010

Banda Aceh. Local residents claim the seabed near Banyak Island in Aceh Singkil district, Aceh, has risen dramatically since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake on April 7.

They also say they have seen an undersea fissure spewing out mud and rocks. But experts are not so sure about the supposed geological phenomenon.

Banyak islander Mufliadi told the Jakarta Globe the phenomenon was first noted on Tuesday by fisherman Ruslan, who had been trawling for sea cucumbers in the Gosong Turak waters around Pailana Island, just off Banyak.

“He was shocked and came back to tell us what he’d seen because the site is a prime fishing spot for the local fisherman,” Mufliadi said on Thursday.

Ruslan had been shocked to find layer upon layer of rocks and no fish in the area. The fisherman also reported a 10-meter-long fissure shaped like a frying pan.

Before the quake, the water in Gosong Turak had been 20 to 30 meters deep but now was just five meters, he said.

On Wednesday, hundreds of villagers dove into the water to see the change for themselves and take rock samples.

“The black rocks were the size of a person’s head, and crumbled easily,” Mufliadi said. “When we burned the rocks, a very strong odor was emitted.”

He said the villagers were concerned the fissure could be an undersea volcano because it kept spewing mud.

Mufliadi urged local authorities to survey the area to confirm what was happening and ease villagers’ concerns.

“If the fissure really is a volcano, we want to anticipate and be ready for the worst-case scenario,” he said.

Mufliadi said more people visited the area on Thursday, bringing back yellow stones “that looked like gold.”

Banyak Island subdistrict head Safnil confirmed the seabed was silting, after visiting the area. “There is a geological anomaly underwater, shaped a bit like a volcano, that keeps spewing out mud,” he said. “But the mud isn’t hot like lava from a regular volcano.”

Safnil said many Banyak residents were worried. He urged them to remain calm and alert pending the arrival of geologists to study whether the fissure posed a threat.

But Danny Hilman Natawidjaya, a geologist from the Indonesian Institute for Sciences (LIPI), told the Jakarta Globe it was impossible for the seabed to have risen so much. “The maximum the seabed can rise is one meter,” he said. “If it did really happen, there should have been a major landslide near the area.”

Danny also said the anomaly that looked like a volcano was called liquefaction. “It’s normal, as the layer of sand on the seabed is pushed by the quake until it liquefies and forms a volcano and can spew out mud,” he said.

Danny said earthquakes altered the land and sea structure and sometimes fish left to find a more comfortable habitat.

Additional reporting by Nurfika Osman

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Air force prepares 6 planes for emergency response in Aceh

Some 12 people injured in Aceh earthquake

Quake cuts 11 power generators in North Sumatra

Blackout in Aceh after major quake