Indonesia is a country with a tropical climate which has a variety of natural resources and the charm of natural beauty. One of the charms of Indonesia’s natural beauty is that it has many active volcanoes that can emit hot lava. Why is Indonesia a country that has volcanoes in Asia?
Volcanoes in Indonesia have a large number because they are crossed by two young mountain routes, namely the Pacific Circum and the Mediterranean Circum. The Pacific Circum stretches across the Pacific Ocean, starting from the Andes Mountains in South America, the Japanese Archipelago, Papua Island, to New Zealand. Meanwhile, the Mediterranean Circum starts from North Africa, Southern Europe, through West Asia, the Andaman Islands, and Indonesia.
In addition, Indonesia’s geographic area, which is located at the point where two continental plates meet, has many volcanoes. The two plates are the Asian Continent Plate in the west, and the Australian Continent Plate in the east. What happened to Indonesia, the two plates collided with each other and created a tectonic process. The tectonic plates that continue to plunge downwards until they reach a point of high temperature and pressure will trigger magma to rise to the surface and form a series of volcanoes.
The collision between two plates occurs at the subduction zone. In Indonesia, the subduction zone extends in the western region of Sumatra Island, south of Java Island, to the south of Timor Island. It is along this subduction zone that many active volcanoes have appeared. Data from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, Indonesia has 127 active volcanoes, and 19 of them are in Java.
The number of volcanoes makes Indonesia has a great potential for disaster. At any time, one of these volcanoes can erupt. Even Mount Merapi on the border of Central Java and Yogyakarta regularly experiences eruptions every year. However, the existence of volcanoes is what makes Indonesian soil so fertile. In addition, the heat energy contained in its stomach can also be used as a source of geothermal electricity.
Indonesia is not a country with the most volcanoes in the world. The position is held by the United States with a total of nearly 173 volcanoes. Most of it is in Alaska, almost every year it is certain to have an eruption. Some of the others are scattered in Hawaii. The most active volcano in the world, Mount Kilauea is in this country. Mount Kilauea has continued to erupt from 1983 until now.
The second position is Russia. The number of volcanoes in Russia reaches 166. These volcanoes are mostly found on the Kachatka Peninsula on the eastern side of Russia. There are 29 volcanoes in this region, one of which is Mount Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,750 masl) which is the largest and highest in Russia.
The third rank was occupied by Indonesia. Although it is not the country with the highest number of volcanoes, volcanic eruptions in Indonesia are the deadliest. The eruption had even disturbed the earth’s climate and became the end of the world for mankind. The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 was one of the largest in history. The eruption left the earth completely dark, and Europe did not have a summer for several years. Hopefully the articles from Indonesiar.com add to your insight.
