Eerie Calm Follows Big Blast at Indonesian Volcano

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia -- Thousands of villagers returned to their homes along the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano Sunday, taking advantage of an eerie lull following its most powerful eruption in a deadly week to check on crops and livestock.

Scientists warned, however, that the notoriously unpredictable mountain could burst back to life at any minute.

On the other side of the archipelago, deliveries of food and medicine to survivors of a tsunami that killed 413 people in the Mentawai islands were expected to resume Sunday, thanks to a break in weather that earlier brought relief efforts to a complete standstill.

A teenage girl with an open chest wound was among those waiting for help.

The simultaneous catastrophes have severely tested the emergency response network in Indonesia, which lies in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a cluster of fault lines prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Mount Merapi, which means "Fire Mountain," unleashed a terrifying 21-minute eruption early Saturday, forcing the temporary closure of a nearby airport and claiming another life, bringing the death toll in one week to 36, said Regina Wijaya, a hospital spokeswoman in the nearby city of Yogyakarta.

A fiery red glow emanated from its peak Sunday and black clouds of ash tumbled from its cauldron, but the violent bursts and rumbling of the last 48 hours had all but stopped.

"It's still dangerous," warned Surono, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. "Often a major eruption, like the one we saw Saturday, is followed first by a period of silence, and then by another big blast."

At least 47,000 people have fled the mountain's wrath, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. Government camps well away from the base were overflowing with refugees, including most of the 11,000 people who live on the mountain's fertile slopes.

More than 2,000 troops have been called in to help keep villagers away during periods of high activity.

When the mountain is calm, however, they are allowed to go back for several hours between dawn and early afternoon to check on their precious livestock and crops.

"My farm has been destroyed by volcanic debris and thick dust. ... All I have left now are my cows and goats," said Subarkah, a farmer from Balerante, a village less than two miles (four kilometers) from the crater's mouth.

"I have to find grass and bring it up to them, otherwise they'll die," he said.

In the tsunami zone, meanwhile, where more than 23,000 people have been displaced, a break in weather raised hopes that boats and helicopters would be able to ferry noodles, sardines and sleeping mats to the most distant corners of the Mentawai islands.

Relief efforts were brought to a halt Saturday by stormy weather and rough seas.

The death toll climbed to 413 this weekend, but officials halved the number of missing people after a total of 135 people were found by searchers or returned home after fleeing to the hills.

At an overwhelmed hospital in Sikakap, the main town on Pagai Utara island, doctors said they need medical supplies to help about 150 injured survivors. The hospital's swelteringly hot rooms were filled with the moans of patients with flushed, sweat-coated faces.

"We need morphine," said Dr. Alyssa Scurrah, who flew in from Sydney, Australia. She said the hospital was desperate for a generator, antibiotics and a chest drain.

One of Scurrah's patients was a 12-year-old girl who was struggling to breathe due to an open chest wound. She clenched her teeth and cried out as a doctor applied cotton pads to the gash along her rib cage.

The doctor said the girl needs to go to Padang for surgery, but no one could get off the island Saturday because of the weather.

"If she stays here, she may not live," Scurrah said.

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Indonesian Volcano Unleashes Biggest Blast Yet

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia-- Clouds of gray ash rumbled down the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano Saturday in its most powerful eruption of a deadly week, prompting soldiers to force reluctant villagers to evacuate amid fears of a larger blast.

On the other side of the archipelago, storms again prevented aid deliveries to increasingly desperate survivors of a tsunami -- including a teenage girl with an open chest wound -- that killed 413 people in the Mentawai islands. Relief workers found some comfort, however, when the number of missing dropped by half to 163 as searchers discovered more survivors and villagers who had fled to the hills returned home.

The simultaneous catastrophes have severely tested the emergency response network. Indonesia lies in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a cluster of fault lines prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Mount Merapi, which sprang back to life early this week, unleashed a terrifying 21-minute eruption early Saturday, followed by more than 350 volcanic tremors and 33 ash bursts, said Surono, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

The latest spewing of the notoriously unpredictable volcano forced the temporary closure of an airport and claimed another life, bringing the death toll this week to 36.

At least 47,000 people have fled the mountain's wrath, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. Government camps well away from the base were overflowing with refugees, including most of the 11,000 people who live on the mountain's fertile slopes. They were told Saturday, with signs the danger level was climbing, that they should expect to stay for three more weeks.

Despite such warnings, many people have returned to their land to check on precious crops and livestock. The new eruption triggered a chaotic pre-dawn exit, killing a 44-year-old woman who was fleeing by motorcycle, said Rusdiyanto, head of disaster management office in the main city of Yogyakarta.

For the first time Saturday, more than 2,000 troops were called in to help keep villagers clear of the mountain. Camouflaged soldiers stood guard in front of ash-covered homes and local television showed one woman who refused evacuation orders being carried away as she screamed in protest.

Still, the villagers may be later allowed to go back for a few hours a day if the volcano appears to be calm, said Djarot Nugroho, head of the Central Java disaster management agency, adding that they must return to the camps immediately if a new alarm is raised.

"Once the sirens go off, no excuse, everyone has to get back to the camps," he said.

The eruption temporarily forced the closure of the airport in Yogyakarta, 12 miles south of the volcano, because of poor visibility and heavy ash on the south of the runway, said Naelendra, an airport official.

Despite earlier hopes that Merapi's activity might be waning, scientists warned Saturday the worst may be yet to come.

High-pressure gas appeared to be building up behind a newly formed thick magna dome in the crater, "setting the stage, potentially, for a more explosive eruption," said Subandrio, who heads the nearby volcanology center.
"It's a bad sign," he said.

In the tsunami zone, where more than 23,000 people have been displaced, government agencies were forced to pull back boats and helicopters that had been ferrying noodles, sardines and sleeping mats to the most distant corners of the Mentawai islands because of stormy weather and rough seas.

The death toll climbed to 413 Saturday, but officials halved the number of missing people after a total of 135 people were found by searchers or returned home after fleeing to the hills. Volunteer searcher Patigor Siahaan said three children -- aged 6, 7 and 8 -- were discovered in the rubble of their collapsed house, where their parents died. Most of the others were found in small groups.
Rescue workers had hoped to airdrop aid using a plane and four helicopters Saturday, but storms made it too dangerous, said Ade Edward, an official with the provincial disaster management agency.

He said navy ships on their way to the devastated area had been halted by 18-foot waves and were stranded in the port of Padang on Sumatra, one of Indonesia's main islands.
At an overwhelmed hospital in Sikakap, the main town on Pagai Utara island, doctors said they need medical supplies to help about 150 injured survivors. The hospital's swelteringly hot rooms were filled with the moans of patients with flushed, sweat-coated faces.

We need morphine," said Dr. Alyssa Scurrah, who flew in from Sydney, Australia. She said the hospital was desperate for a generator, antibiotics and a chest drain.

One of Scurrah's patients was a 12-year-old girl who was struggling to breathe due to an open chest wound. She clenched her teeth and cried out as a doctor applied cotton pads to the gash along her rib cage.

The doctor said the girl needs to go to Padang for surgery, but no one could get off the island Saturday because of the weather.

"If she stays here, she may not live," Scurrah said.

One bright spot amid the misery: A baby girl was born at the hospital on Friday. The mother was caught in the wave as it slammed into her village, doctors said, but her injuries were not severe and she and her baby were expected to be fine.

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Police: Large firecracker caused LA harbor blast

SAN PEDRO, Calif. –  A large firecracker caused a blast near a Los Angles-area harbor that sent police scrambling to evacuate the neighborhood and order bomb squads into a hotel parking garage early Sunday, authorities said.

An M-80 explosive device went off at around the same time an SUV was vandalized in the area, said Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Michael Downing. Investigators initially thought the vehicle was the source of the blast.

The bomb squad sent in robots, and officers throughout the area were placed on alert, but investigators now believe it likely was not a bomb that broke the window and created a small hole in the door of an SUV, Los Angeles Police Lt. John Romero said.

A caller reported hearing a blast at 7:30 a.m. in a commercial area of San Pedro. A short time later a patrol officer with the Port Police discovered the damaged Lincoln Navigator in the underground garage of the Clarion Inn.

Investigators found debris away from the SUV that helped them determine the blast was a firecracker, police said.

"On closer inspection and using their training, bomb squad is confident the damage was caused by something other than a bomb. Based on what we know now, they're scaling the operation way back," Romero said.

Downing said investigators ruled out any connection to terrorism. No arrests were made.

Romero said the LAPD has classified it as a vandalism case and detectives will be looking at surveillance tape of the garage and impounding the SUV to search it for clues.

The Navigator is owned by Kent Whitman of San Jose. He returned Sunday from a seven-day Mexican cruise and found that the hotel where he left his SUV was evacuated, then learned that the evacuation was because of damage to his vehicle.

"We got off our cruise ship and our car got vandalized. We don't know what exactly happened," Whitman told an Associated Press reporter at the scene. "We had a GPS system. That's the only thing that's gone."

Whitman said he got engaged on the cruise and Sunday is his birthday.

Rudy Pastrano, the owner of a diner about two blocks from the hotel, said he was preparing the day's menu when he heard a loud sound.

"I was cooking my food and I heard something like 'boom'! I said, 'What happened?' And I checked everything in the kitchen but saw nothing. An hour later I went outside and saw a lot of police," he said.

Streets were shut down and police briefly set up a command center south of the hotel. The roads were reopened around 11:15 a.m.

Police said there were no reports of injuries or damage to the hotel.

"We always take the potential for an explosive device very seriously," the LAPD said in a statement Sunday night. "This incident turned out to be the best-case scenario."

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Associated Press Reporter Thomas Watkins and Christopher Weber contributed from Los Angeles.

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