Natural Disasters Are Fact of Life in Indonesia's 'Ring of Fire'

Although movement along fault lines -- places where the earth’s tectonic plates come together -- can often cause simultaneous events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, experts say that the back-to-back disasters in Indonesia were pure coincidence.

Indonesia sits on ‘Ring of Fire’

	Indonesia sits directly on the Pacific basin's 'Ring of Fire,' an area prone to volcano and earthquake activity.

Indonesia is a majority Muslim democratic republic of 238 million people (by comparison, the U.S. population is about 310 million). Residents are accustomed to being displaced by natural disasters, according to Aubrey Belford who has been reporting on the volcano and tsunami for the International Herald Tribune. Indonesia is a string of islands that sits directly along the "Ring of Fire" -- an area along the Pacific Ocean basin prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

“While the fact that these happened so close to each other has shocked a lot of people abroad, in Indonesia, another natural disaster happening, it's really part of…daily life here,” Belford told NPR.

Government decided not to force evacuation

	Volcano ash covered villages and made it difficult to breathe.

Although disasters are nothing new to Indonesians, the government has been criticized for reacting too slowly to the tsunami disaster and for failing to force evacuations on the dangerous slopes of Mount Merapi.

“We would be better off providing education, knowledge and training to the residents around the mountain on how to deal with catastrophic volcanic eruptions that may occur again,” Welfare Minister Agung Laksono told the Jarkarta Globe.

Indonesian authorities also had trouble reaching people stranded in the wake of the tsunami that struck some of the country’s most remote islands. The Mentawai island chain, a popular surfing destination, was hit the hardest and is only accessible by airplane or boat. Rescuers had to battle bad weather but finally reached the islands to find 272 people dead and 412 missing.

Farmers value fertile volcanic soil

	Mount Merapi provides fertile farmland for farmers in its shadow, many of whom didn't want to evacuate when the order came.

Many Indonesians make their livelihoods off of the fertile farmland below Mount Merapi. Volcanic soil is among the best farming soil in the world because of the mineral deposits that eruptions carry from deep within the earth.

History is full of examples of populated villages at the base of volcanoes being wiped out by eruptions. Italy’s Mount Vesuvius provided some of the only fertile soil in its region. More than two thousand years ago, the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum flourished from the rich farmland below the volcano. But when Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 79, it buried the rich agricultural areas and heavily populated cities in its path.

Indonesian farmers were hesitant to leave their crops and livestock around Mount Merapi. As the volcano began to erupt, many stayed behind to care for their farms instead of heading to shelters.

“Only the women, the elderly and children have evacuated to shelters,” Tumiyati, a resident, told the Jakarta Post. “The men and the youths are still in the villages. If all of them are here, who will feed the livestock?”

Volcano holds spiritual importance for Indonesians

	The coffin of Mount Merapi's spiritual gatekeeper lies ready to be buried. The gatekeeper died on the mountain after he refused to evacuate.

Many Indonesians were also hesitant to leave the slopes of Mount Merapi because the volcano holds a sacred place in their religious beliefs. Indonesia has the world’s largest population of Muslims, but Hinduism and Buddhism are also widely practiced.

The spirituality surrounding Mount Merapi embraces the beliefs of multiple religions: The volcano is seen as a representation of the sacred Mount Meru of Hindu mythology and a home to ancient Javanese spirits who watch over the nearby ancient city of Yogyakarta.

Until the recent eruptions, the volcano also had a spiritual gatekeeper named Mbah (grandfather) Maridjan, who lived just three miles from the volcano’s crater. Maridjan made sure all of the religious rituals surrounding the mountain were carried out and appeased the volcano’s spirits with gifts and ceremonies.

When authorities went to warn Maridjan of an eruption, he reportedly refused to leave and chose instead to stay in his home and pray. Rescue workers found his body after the volcano’s first eruption last week.