Indonesia’s geological bureau on Monday issued a volcanic hazard alert after at least 10 people were killed in an eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki on the remote island of Flores, the AP reports on an interesting and quite unique approach to natural disaster mass communication practices.
One would assume the whole point of having a monitoring bureau who work to ensure that data from a network of seismometers and instruments capable of detecting changes in gas emissions from volcanic features indicative of an imminent eruption would be the time they say “DANGER! EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY” but instead Indonesia seems content to let a few people – at least one Catholic nun in a convent that was hit by a pyroclastic flow among them – become a cautionary example of why locals should take volcano safety seriously. It’s as if saying “See? These people are dead. This fucker means business,” is more effective than telling them they might be next.