\"Super volcano\" could dwarf Indonesia's earthquake catastrophes:
\nexpert<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nSydney, Australia<\/p>\n
As Indonesians struggled to recover from the second deadly
\nearthquake to strike them in three months, an Australian expert
\nwarned on Friday that the country faced the prospect of a \"super
\nvolcano\" eruption that would dwarf all previous catastrophes.<\/p>\n
Professor Ray Cas of Monash University's School of Geosciences
\nsaid the world's biggest super volcano was Lake Toba, on
\nIndonesia's island of Sumatra, site of both the recent massive
\nearthquakes.<\/p>\n
Cas told Australian media on Friday that Toba sits on a
\nfaultline running down the middle of Sumatra -- just where some
\nseismologists say a third earthquake might strike following the
\n9.0 magnitude quake on December 26 and Monday's 8.7 temblor.<\/p>\n
Those quakes occurred along faultlines running just off
\nSumatra's west coast and created seismological stresses which
\ncould hasten an eruption.<\/p>\n
Cas said Toba last erupted 73,000 years ago in an event so
\nmassive that it altered the entire world's climate.<\/p>\n
\"The eruption released 1,000 cubic kilometers of ash and rock
\ndebris into the atmosphere, much of it as fine ash which blocked
\nout solar radiation, kicking the world back into an ice age,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The scientist said super volcanos represented the greatest
\npotential hazard on earth, \"the only greater threat being an
\nasteroid impact from space\".<\/p>\n
\"A super volcano will definitely erupt,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It could be in a few, 50 or another 1000 years but sooner or
\nlater one is going to go off.\"<\/p>\n
Other super volcanoes are found in Italy, South America, the
\nUnited States and New Zealand -- where Mount Taupo could be ready
\nfor eruption.<\/p>\n
\"It has a big eruption every 2,000 years, and it last erupted
\nabout 2,000 years ago,\" Cas said.<\/p>\n
The potential death toll from a super volcano eruption \"could
\nreach the hundreds of thousands to millions and there are serious
\nimplications on climate, weather and viability of food
\nproduction,\" Cas said.<\/p>\n
\"The big problem is a lot of the volcanoes that potentially
\ncould erupt are perhaps not monitored to the degree that they
\nshould be, and of course we learnt that lesson from the Boxing
\nDay tsunami disaster,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/super-volcano-could-dwarf-indonesias-earthquake-catastrophes-1447899208",
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