Memory Of Wedhus Gembel's Danger In The 2010 Mount Merapi Eruption

Behind the beautiful scenery of the molten lava of Mount Merapi, lies an extraordinary power and danger. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. The eruption is often feared by local residents. Moreover, hot clouds (wedhus gembel) that bring deep sorrow. In the eruption of October 26, 2010, for example. Wedhus Gembel took many lives. Including the kuncen Merapi, Mbah Maridjan.

He refused to be evacuated in order to carry out his duties to serve Merapi. For him, eruptions are not a threat, human greed is the real threat.

Volcanic eruptions are often a heartbreaking disaster. The impact is huge. The impact that can be seen is dwelling on the loss of life, dead livestock, or the emergence of an epidemic. The biggest impact is the loss of a civilization. In fact, several kingdoms in the archipelago have been lost due to the effects of volcanic eruptions.

The level of awareness of people living on the slopes of the mountains has increased. The level of the status of the volcano is considered the most important thing to raise awareness. The levels include normal, alert, alert, to alert. When the status has reached alert, let alone alert, then it is time for people who are on the slopes of the mountain to evacuate. Because life is at stake.

A house destroyed by hot clouds from the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi, which is known as wedhus gembel. (Wikimedia Commons)

This matter was clearly seen when the eruption of Mount Merapi occurred on October 26, 2010. Merapi raged with three eruptions so fast. In fact, unpredictable. Wedhus Gembel especially. The hot cloud hit Kaliadem, Kepuharjo Village, Cangkringan District, Sleman. As a result, fatalities fell.

What's more, from October 28 to 29, 2010 the raging Merapi was still able to spit out hot clouds. Even if the intensity is reduced. Victims fell. Likewise, with the resulting damage, hundreds of houses were badly damaged.

“The victims recorded in the eruption of October 26, 2010 eventually became 40 people, while the victims died on the eruption of November 4, 2010, up to 64 people last night. Thus, while the total population who died was 104 people.”

After destroying the village of Kinahrejo, Hamlet of Pelemsari, Village of Umbulharjo, in the eruption of October 26, Wedhus gembel and hot lava from Merapi destroyed settlements along the Kali Gendol flow which became its route. Of the five villages in Cangkringan, four of them have been rolled up by wedhus gembel and hot lava,” said Irene Sarwindaningrum and Hariadi Saptono in their writing in the Kompas Daily entitled Homeland: The Passing of Edelweiss from Cangkringan (2010).

Danger of Wedhus Gembel

Wedhus Gembel is the most frightening natural phenomenon for residents on the slopes of Merapi. Wedhus gembel in question does not mean a goat with thick hair, but a nickname for hot clouds that often appear after the eruption of Merapi.

For some people on the slopes of Merapi, the phenomenon of hot clouds is considered to have mapped its movement. That assumption arose from the life experience of struggling from the previous eruption. The experience of living in the midst of an eruption made most people choose to stay at home.

They think the eruption of Merapi will not threaten their lives. Mainly because the kuncen of Merapi, Mas Panewu Sukraso Hargo or Mbah Maridjan also survived. Indirectly his steps were followed by many people.

For Mbah Maridjan the eruption of Mount Merapi is not a threat. Because the real threat is human greed. Lust for development, for example. He ignored the warning to evacuate immediately. The invitation to evacuate was not even from random people, from the military to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Boediono.

A volunteer rescues residents from the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi. (Twitter@SekolahRelawan)

Mbah Maridjan chose to stay. This step was followed by some residents. However, reality says otherwise. Poor alias can't be denied. The wedhus gembel movement of Mount Merapi is unpredictable. The hot clouds can actually reach up to 15 km. Wedhus Gembel swept the forest, gardens, to residential areas. As a result, many people died, including Mbah Maridjan.

“For some residents, especially those who live around its slopes, Merapi is not just a panorama. There is a belief about an imaginary line linking the Merapi Palace with the Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Palace and the Kanjeng Ratu Kidul Palace in the South Sea, as part of a definite Javanese cosmology. From this perspective, the eruption of Merapi is often manipulated as merely a sign of nature to humans -- and by itself is not necessarily dangerous. It is in this perspective that Mas Penewu Surakso Hargo aka Mbah Maridjan the kuncen relies."

“In the end, the plague was inevitable. With a speed of 100 km per hour, the wedhus trashy with temperatures above 600 degrees Celsius only takes less than two minutes to reach Mbah Maridjan's house in Kinahrejo Hamlet, Cangkringan. Most of the dead -- out of a total of 35 people -- were found around the housing estate, including Mbah and journalist Yuniawan Wahyu Nugroho. This is the largest number of victims of Merapi since the eruption in 1994 which claimed 69 lives,” wrote a Tempo Magazine report entitled Merapi: Abai Brings Sangsai (2010).