Neighboring Volcanic Activity

Australia is a country with no active volcanoes. There are dormant volcanoes that exist in Australia yet not a single one has erupted in about 7,000 years. Australia doesn't sit near a plate boundary so this would be the reason for its non existent number of active volcanoes.
Though close by is Indonesia which does sit on the Australian - Sunda plate boundary. A large concentration of seismic and volcanic activity can be found here. Just within the past month there has been multiple eruptions across the islands. Indonesia is home to the largest at risk population to volcanic hazards (Dave Applegate). The Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geologic Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM) as well as the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) work in correspondence with each other to maintain a sophisticated up to date volcanic detection system. Recently the Indonesian government has implemented a new system which alerts civilians through a mobile based application that can be downloaded. This can be useful because alert sirens cannot reach everyone within the area where a hazard is occurring.(Currently Active Mt. Agung) A one through four numerical alert system is used 
to classify the possibility of an eruption occurring. A one being no eruption within the foreseeable future and a four meaning an eruption is possible within the next twenty four hours. Unfortunately not much can be done to mitigate the damage of volcanic eruptions other than relocation. They are a relentless force of nature but the Indonesian government does have the tools in place to warn and protect its people in the case of a hazardous eruption occurring.

SOURCES: Link 1 , Link 2 , Link 3 , Link 4

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 25, 2018 at 1:44 PM

    Hello Matt! Great post this week. It is interesting to learn about Australia, because I have a couple of friends that moved here from Australia. It is good to see that Australia has no active volcanoes. However, It is unfortunate to hear that the Indonesian government does have the tools in place to warn and protect its people in the case of a hazardous eruption occurring. Keep up the good work!

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