2006-05-24
9:12 a.m.

Update from Magelang, Yogyakarta, Indonesia - 3

23 May 2006

Hi all,

Just a quick update for you.

We got out to PMI Base relatively early today. It was a good clear day and we managed to see the mountain and the smoke coming out of it. While we were admiring it from the safety of the PMI Base�s backyard, the volcano decided to put on a side show for us. There was suddenly a big dust cloud that came out and billowed downwards. I managed to capture some photos and a bit of the explosion on video, which you�ll be receiving with the CD. Later on we found out that it was an explosion of sorts. I�ll talk more about this discovery later.

Anyway, there was no deployment in the morning as Dr Arina and all the PMI doctors are in Yogya for a seminar or conference or something. So we decided to pay a courtesy call to Mercy at Dukun.

We took the Mercy team with us, and went up to Babadan, which is 4km from the mountain. Dukun itself is 6km from Mt Merapi.

When we were at Babadan, we came across 2 photojournalists (French!) who work for a press agency in Malaysia. According to the 2 men, they were up on the slope when the explosion happened this morning. They were going to go to the other side of the mountain when we met them.

Anyway, what�s interesting about what the 2 men said is that they told me they met up with 2 volcanologists on the slopes. These guys said that when the volcano erupts it may not be upwards like a normal volcano eruption; because the pressure is so high, the explosion may be sideways. Anyone within 20km distance of the explosion will stand a high chance of melting within 2 minutes. That�s something to watch for! I did wonder what the local Indian chief (the 70-plus old man I told you about in the first update) had to say about that! =p

This afternoon we went to Balai Desa (some sort of community centre?) Gulon, which houses 710 IDPs. Treated 64 patients - 18 kids, 34 females, 11 males. Notice the patients are predominantly female? I don�t know why this is so, but my guess is that males tend to be more shy (or chauvinistic, if you wanna see it that way?) about seeing doctors, especially if the doctor is female? Anyway, Dawn says the main bulk of the cases are coughs and flus.

That�s about it. Will update again when there�s news or when I can, whichever is earlier.

Take care, all!

dor

[<<<] - [>>>]

Look Around
current
archive
email
My Homepage
host

Powered by TagBoard Message Board
Name

URL or Email

Messages(smilies)