Java, Indonesia
Hundreds of Indonesians refused to leave their homes this week, even as the giant volcano looming above them began erupting. Mount Merapi, on the island of Java, spewed gas, ash, and streams of lava, and scientists feared a major collapse of the lava dome. At least 5,000 people did evacuate the area, but many remained, bolstered by the calm of an 80-year-old mystic who tends the volcano’s gods. The mystic, Maridjan, said the spirits had not told him to flee. Merapi’s last eruption, in 1994, killed 70 people. A much bigger eruption, in 1930, killed at least 1,300.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why are election experts taking Trump’s midterm threats seriously?IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the president muses about polling place deployments and a centralized electoral system aimed at one-party control, lawmakers are taking this administration at its word
-
‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Earth is rapidly approaching a ‘hothouse’ trajectory of warmingThe explainer It may become impossible to fix
