Mass Evacuation Ordered as Mt SINABUNG Put on Red Alert

18,000 people evacuated as Sinabung activity intensifies

Mt Sinabung’s latest explosive eruption has prompted the authorities to raise the volcanic alert to the highest level, “siaga,” or “red alert,” according to Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center.

The alert level was raised from “orange” or “level III ” to the highest level “red” or “level IV” by PVMBG on Sunday, as the authorities evacuated an additional  11,618 residents from 19 villages and expanded the evacuation zone to a 5-km exclusion  zone from 3 km previously.

“This is Sinabung’s highest level of activity. The intensity of the eruptions continues to increase,” said Hendrasto, head of PVMBG.

Villagers evacuate to a safe area, as Mount Sinabung ejects ash into air at Aman Teran village in Karo district, Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, November 24, 2013. Credit: Reuters/YT Haryono. More images…

As of 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, Sinabung was continuing to eject an 8-km high column of smoke and ash into the air, he said.

Some 6,000 villagers had already been evacuated from the 3-km exclusion zone, about 90 km from Medan, capital of North Sumatra province.

The North Sumatra health has distributed 180,000 face masks, medicine and 4 tons of baby formula to relief posts in Karo regency, reported Jakarta Post.

Mt Sinabung erupted explosively again on November 12, 2013 for a second time in 9 days. Image credit: CRIonLine via Xinhua. More images…

Approximate location of Sinabung is marked  on the map by FEWW. Mount Sinabung is one of Indonesia’s 130  active volcanoes

Sinabung Volcano: Summary of Details

Country: Indonesia
Region: Sumatra
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown [1600?]
Summit Elevation: 2,460m
Latitude: 3.17°N Longitude: 98.392°E
Source: GVP

Sinabung is located in Group K Volcanoes

Map of Volcanoes. Background Map: University of Michigan. Designed and enhanced by Fire Earth Blog. Click image to enlarge.

The PVMBG categorizes Sinabung as a type A volcano, or those that have erupted since 1600. Type B volcanoes have not erupted since 1600 but show signs of activity, and type C are those that have not erupted in recorded history.

Mount Sinabung ejected tephra into the air as seen from Tanah Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Friday, Sept. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Dedy Zulkifli). Image may be subject to copyright.

Indonesian Volcanoes

Indonesian Volcanoes have been responsible for a number of cataclysmic explosions in modern history.

An 1888 lithograph of the 1883 violent explosion of Krakatau.

Based on their models, our colleagues at EDRO forecast that the collapse of Singapore may occur as a result of volcanic activity on the island of Sumatra. However, they have not disclosed any further detail.

Chronology of Recent Eruptions

• A Second Indonesian Volcano Erupts Posted on November 19, 2013
• 22 Indonesian Volcanoes Remain on High Alerts Posted on November 16, 2013
• Sinabung Volcano Explodes Posted on November 3, 2013
• Thousands Flee Mount Sinabung Eruption September 16, 2013

• Sinabung Erupts Again August 30, 2010
• Mount Sinabung Erupts  August 29, 2010
• Sinabung Erupts Again – Strongest Explosion to Date September 7, 2010

• Mount Merapi Eruption Satellite Image November 16, 2010
• Merapi’s latest eruption the deadliest so far  November 5, 2010
• Mt Merapi Erupts Again, 70,000 Evacuated November 1, 2010

• Mount Sinabung Erupts  August 29, 2010
• Sinabung Erupts Again  August 30, 2010
• Sinabung Erupts Again – Strongest Explosion to Date September 7, 2010
• Sinabung Getting More Serious September 7, 2010

Syria Terror: Children “Targeted by Snipers”

“Stolen Futures: The hidden toll of child casualties in Syria”

Some 11,420 children aged 17 and under were killed in the Syrian conflict: 7 out of 10 by explosive weapons, 1 in 4 by bullets—Oxford Research Group.

Between March 2011, when the “conflict” began, and end August 2013, at least 11,420 were recorded killed in Syria. Some 764 children were summarily executed, 389 were killed by sniper fire and more than 100—including infants—were tortured, according to the report.

“128 children were recorded killed by chemical weapons in Ghouta on 21 August, 2013.”

Overall, a total of 113,735 civilians and combatants were killed during the report period.

10 year-old Issa carries a mortar shell in a weapons factory for the “Free Syrian Army” in Aleppo, September 7, 2013. Image Credit: REUTERS/Hamid Khatib

Related Links

• Syria Refugees Top 2 Million Posted on September 3, 2013
• Destabilization of Middle East Intensifies Posted on August 26, 2013
• Drought Driving Syria to Collapse Posted on September 11, 2010

Tens of Thousand Displaced by Flooding in Thailand

Disaster zones declared in southern Thailand amid deadly flooding

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in southern Thailand as severe floods destroy or damage many thousands of homes, killing about a dozen people, and leaving vast tracts of crops spoiled.

Authorities have declared a state of disaster in 8 provinces including Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Surat Thani and Trang.

Hundreds of villages have been evacuated in Narathiwat, reportedly the hardest hit province.

The main reservoir in Tha Chana district had been filled to capacity and was overflowing, sending down a surge of floodwater and prompting warnings about potentially deadly landslides, officials told the Bangkok Post.

Meantime, 3-meter high waves have been pounding the Gulf of Thailand, officials said.

Recent Flood Toll in Thailand

October 2, 2013. Deadly floods affected 32 of Thailand’s 77 provinces killing at least 23 people, affecting 2.85 million others and forcing at least 15,000 people to abandon their homes, said the Thai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. By October 17, the death toll had climbed to at least 68, and flooding had affected 359 districts in 46 provinces across the north, northeastern and central regions, leaving 230,000 families displaced, the Ministry of Interior reported.

US Temps to Plunge 30 Degrees

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

Significant winter storm forecast for the Southern Plains: NWS

High temperatures are forecast to plunge up to 30 degrees below average for this time of year in many areas across Ohio Valley, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic,  as a blast of Arctic air hits the U.S.

UPDATE: At least 6 people have been killed across the country in storm-related incidents, and dozens more injured in traffic accidents in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas, as of 06:00UTC on Sunday.

Blast of Arctic air is forecast to move into the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as an “anomalous upper level low will slowly track eastward over the next couple of days, from its current position over southern California, to near the Texas panhandle by Monday afternoon. This system will encounter a bitter cold airmass which is currently in place over a good portion of the country, east of the Rockies. Higher elevation heavy snow is expected from the mountains of New Mexico into southern Colorado with light to moderate snowfall for remaining lower elevations,” said the national weather Service (NWS).

U.S. Weather Hazmap for Sunday, November 24, 2013. Source: NWS/CRH. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH Blog.

Sleet and freezing rain is forecast for southwestern Texas, with snow across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles … wintry mixture will spread northeastward through the day on Saturday and Sunday with storm total ice accumulations between 0.25 and 0.5 inches possible for locations in the northern Texas Hill Country. … ice and sleet accumulations should spread into the Dallas/Fort-Worth Metroplex … light snow/sleet across central and western Oklahoma.

More than a foot of snow is expected through they day Sunday in the U.P. of Michigan and six inches or more for northwestern Pennsylvania into western New York as well as localized areas in central New York.

Temperatures will be up to 30 degrees below average for this time of year on Sunday with the exception of Florida and the North Central U.S., said NWS.