Indonesian volcano erupts

Volcano

Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A mid-oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust (called "non-hotspot intraplate volcanism"), such as in the East African Rift, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and the Rio Grande Rift in North America.

Indonesian volcano erupts, injuring up to 20 people
Thousands of residents on the slopes have been evacuated

Indonesia's most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted Tuesday, spewing out hot ash that injured several people. An AP reporter witnessed up to 20 people being taken away for treatment of their injuries. Subandriyo, chief vulcanologist in the area, said Merapi started to erupt just before dusk Tuesday. It had rumbled and groaned for hours. Scientists have warned that pressure building beneath Merapi's lava dome could trigger one of the most powerful blasts in years. Thousands of residents on the slopes have been evacuated. However most who fled were the elderly and children, while adults stayed to tend to homes and farms on the mountain's fertile slopes. In a 1994 eruption after the volcano's lava dome collapsed, 70 people were killed. The volcano killed 1,300 people in 1930.

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