By SLAMET RIYADI
Associated Press
MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia – A volcanic eruption and a tsunami killed scores of people hundreds of miles apart in Indonesia – spasms from the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which spawns disasters from deep within the Earth.
Tuesday’s eruption of Mount Merapi killed at least 18 people, forced thousands to flee down its slopes and spewed burning ash and smoke high into the air on the island of Java.
Meanwhile, off the coast of Sumatra, about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) west of the volcano, rescuers battled rough seas to reach Indonesia’s Mentawai islands, where a 10-foot tsunami triggered by an earthquake Monday night swept away hundreds of homes, killing at least 113 villagers, said Mujiharto of the Health Ministry’s crisis center. Up to 500 others are missing.