Volcanos in Indonesia and Vanuatu Set to Erupt – Environmental Risks

• Manaro volcano on Ambae Island, Vanuatu and Mount Agung in Bali, Indonesia have shown increase signs of activity.
• More than 140,000 have been evacuated in Bali and the entire population of the island of Ambae have been evacuated.
• Both volcanos sit in the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire.

Environmental: Two volcanos in the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire have shown increased activity recently, which has led to thousands of evacuations. 144,000 people on the popular Indonesian tourist island of Bali have been taken to shelters due to fears that Mount Agung could erupt at any time. 447 temporary shelters have been set up. A 12-kilometre exclusion zone has been implemented around Agung. When the volcano last erupted in 1963, more than 1,700 people were killed and numerous villages were destroyed. The alert level for the Mount Agung is currently set at four, the second highest level on the scale. This means that there is a danger of flying rocks, volcanic gases, and acid rain.

The entire population of the Vanuatu island of Ambae, around 11,000 people, have been moved from the path of the Manaro volcano, which has become increasingly active. The alert level for the Manaro volcano is also currently set at level four. Ambae Island has not been evacuated on this scale since 2005.

According to experts, both of these volcanos are showing signs of eruption is a matter of coincidence, despite their geographical location in the Pacific Ring of Fire; the world’s most active seismic zone. The Ring of Fire runs from New Zealand around to Chile in South America and it is estimated that 90 per cent of all of the world’s earthquakes occur in this area. Countries which sit on or near the Ring of Fire include: The United States, Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Mexico, which was recently hit by two strong, deadly earthquakes in less than two weeks. The Ring of Fire is also home to at least 25 major active volcanos according to the US Geological Survey and contains more than 75 per cent of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes. Future volcanic activity is notoriously difficult to accurately predict.

Volcanoes bring a series of potential hazards. Lava flows are significant risks due to intense heat; lava flows destroy everything in their path but are slow moving, allowing people to move out of the way. Acidic gases and ash produced by volcanos can cause respiratory issues to children primarily, but also to adults. Volcanic ash can also damage machinery and, once mixed with water, can collapse the roofs of buildings. Ash produced by volcanos can have an impact hundreds of kilometres from its origin. Volcanic eruptions can cause ‘lateral blasts’ in which large pieces of rocks are shot at high speeds for several kilometres. Lateral blasts can kill by impact, burial, and heat. Eruptions often occur together with fires, landslide, acid rain, flash floods, mudflows, or earthquakes.