On Mount Semeru

I am writing in response to the photo and caption published on the front page of The Jakarta Post on April 17. The photo displays Mount Semeru, located southeast of Surabaya. The caption states that Indonesia lies along the geologically active "Pacific Ring of Fire" and has more than one hundred active volcanoes.

The picture and caption suggest that the eruption of Mount Semeru is related to Indonesia being located on "the Pacific Ring of Fire". This implication is not correct, nor is the comment on "the Pacific Ring of Fire" relevant.

A quick glance at a map of Indonesia will reveal that the island of Java is not a Pacific Island. While lying between the "Ring of Fire" along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea, Indonesia lies between the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores and Timor islands. Consequently, Mount Semeru is part of the Alpide belt, not the "Ring of Fire."

BRUCE MACGREGOR Bruce MacGregor Jakarta