In the
densely populated Sidoarjo area in East Java, Indonesia, there is a huge
expanse of mud, that is the result of a mud volcano that has been spewing since
May 2006. The disaster, known as the Lusi mudflow — a contraction of Lumpur Sidoarjo where lumpur is the
Indonesian word for mud — has inundated rice paddies and fish ponds, engulfed
factories and schools, and destroyed houses in a dozen village, resulting in
the displacement of 30,000 to 40,000 people.
At its
peak, the Sidoarjo mud flow, also known as the Lapindo mud flow, was spewing up
to 180,000 cubic meters of mud per day. Its discharge rate is mercifully half
today, but it will continue to flow for the next 25 to 30 years, at least.
Disaster response teams tried everything they could to stop the mud, from
plugging the hole in the ground with concrete to carting away the mud on
trucks. A network of levees around the volcano now contain most of the mud.
What couldn't be contained was allowed to fall into a nearby river, where it
has formed a new island and extended the natural delta.
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