Indonesian Erruption Forces Evacuation of 1300

ABC News reports that "A volcano in western Indonesia erupted again Sunday, unleashing volcanic ash high into the sky and forcing the evacuation of villagers living around its slope. Officials raised Mount Sinabung's alert status to the second-highest level after the 2,600-meter (8,530-foot) -high mountain erupted early Sunday, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Authorities were working to evacuate residents from four North Sumatra province villages located within the mountain's three-kilometer (two-mile) danger zone, Nugroho said. About 1,300 villagers have been relocated to safer areas so far. It was the volcano's second big eruption since late last month, with its Oct. 24 explosion prompting the evacuation of more than 3,300 people." This video of Sinabung's 2010 eruption gives some clue about what to expect.

Why do people in Indonesia live near Volcanos?

[Znarl]

Indonesia is a very corrupt country from heads of government to local school teachers. There is no planning permissions needed to build a house. Indonesians just clear the forest, put up a house and bribe government officials away if they start asking the right questions. There's also 172 active volcanos in Indonesia and 300 million people.

Also the local population tend to have a great deal in faith in the protection of God from natural disasters. When natural disasters strike Indonesians tend to believe it's punishment from God. Boxing day Tsunami which hit North Sumatra near this volcano is still seen as punishment from God for western ideas and practices, such as drinking.

This Volcano is 25kms away from Lake Toba, a very beautiful fresh water lake with many tourist resorts.

Re:Nope.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

While you'd get quite the opposite impression (and effect) from the ashfall immediately following an eruption, volcanic soils that have had some time to weather a bit and regain their organic and biological components tend to be pretty rich. Assuming that eruptions don't happen too often, easier farming and occasional disruption beats the alternative.

It's sort of like telling people not to live next to rivers. Sure, they flood on occasion, and that sucks; but the rest of the time that's where the trade, fishing, and relatively steady water supply is.

Now, you would probably be better off not building a city on, or close to, a volcano. You wont' be getting much agriculture done in an urban environment, and those things can be expensive to rebuild.