MERAPI VOLANO HAPPENINGS

Merapi Volcano effects in story 1 and a minor Quake in new Zealand in story 2.

List of Dangers Posed by Erupting Volcano By The Associated Press Mon May 15, 2:40 PM

ET The eruption of a volcano such as Indonesia's Mount Merapi can unleash powerful forces. Some of the dangers posed by a volcanic eruption. PYROCLASTIC FLOWS: These clouds of volcanic ash, gas and debris are the biggest threat to those living on the slopes of Mount Merapi.

At the bottom of the flow is a layer of coarse rock fragments that bursts forth like a shotgun blast. It hugs the ground, and can splinter forests like toothpicks and destroy buildings. The top layer is a turbulent ash cloud. A pyroclastic cloud is fast, moving at 50 to 100 mph. And it's hot — up to 1,500 degrees. In 1980, Mount St. Helens in Oregon directed a blast of hot material that reached 300 mph.

MAGMA: The boiling magma rumbling and rising to the surface of a volcano and forming lava flows contains dissolved carbon dioxide and other gases. Fresh, foaming magma contains more gas than old magma. If the gas content is high, the explosivity is greater.

ASH: The most likely and widespread danger from any volcano is ash. Initially, ash is blasted 60,000 feet into the atmosphere and winds can carry it for hundreds of miles. The 1883 eruption of Indonesia's Krakatoa volcano, one of the most destructive in history, killed 36,000 people and covered Java with ash. Volcanic ash is not the product of combustion like ash from a wood stove. Gritty and abrasive, it is made up of tiny fragments of rock, natural glass and minerals that get pulverized by earthquakes and internal explosions. The plume can choke engines of passing aircraft and disrupt telecommunications signals.

TEPHRA: Tephra is a catchall term for fragments of volcanic rock and lava thrown airborne. Some tephra is nearly four feet wide, but most of it is gravel that acts like shrapnel and shreds whatever is in its path.

LAHAR: Lahar is a catastrophic slurry of water and rock fragments that rushes down the volcano's slopes. It looks like wet concrete and can carry house-sized boulders, trees, even bridges. It follows river valleys, often growing and gaining speed as it consumes the water in the channel.

Moderate quake rattles New Zealand capital Sun May 14, 6:56 PM ET

WELLINGTON (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook the New Zealand capital of Wellington, seismologists said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the moderate quake which struck at 5:32 am (1732 GMT Sunday).

The tremblor was located 50 kilometres (31 miles) northwest of Wellington and 60 kilometres below the earth's surface, GNS Science, the nation's geological agency, said in a statement on its website. The quake was felt throughout the Wellington area. GNS records 14,000 earthquakes in and around New Zealand every year as the country is positioned on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. Most of these quakes are small with only 150 on average felt by residents.