Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Two volcanoes threaten lives half a world apart.

In Hawaii, lava creeps towards a town.

It is a potential disaster in slow motion.

PHIL: So people had maybe a one or two-week warning

that lava might come through this neighborhood

within that time.

NARRATOR: In Sumatra, a volcano awakens after a 500-year slumber.

[Explosion]

Its terrifying eruptions send people fleeing

as deadly pyroclastic flows destroy villages.

Nature's raw power is our planet's most spectacular show.

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NARRATOR: For people who live on active volcanoes,

life has an element of impermanence to it.

There is always the fear that one day their home

will be in the path of an eruption.

For the residents of the town of Pahoa,

on the Big Island of Hawaii, that time is now.

The island is built of five volcanoes.

Three of them have erupted in historic times.

And one is currently erupting.

Its name is Kilauea.

Kilauea is a shield volcano.

That means it's built of layers of fluid, flowing lava.

Its current eruptive phase started in 1983.

Most of the time, lava from Kilauea follows

a well-worn path out to the sea,

where it builds more land, enlarging the island.

But every so often lava threatens the human population.

In 1990, Kilauea wiped out the town of Kalapana.

Since then it has taken down a few houses here and there,

but it hasn't threatened any major towns or villages...

until now.

Pahoa is located in the opposite direction

of Kilauea's regular flow path.

But the unpredictable has happened:

a slow-moving lava flow is heading straight for them.

The town is holding its breath to see if it will stop,

or whether this is a slow-motion disaster in the making.

PHIL: This is the main road into Pahoa right behind me,

and this low spot is where we think the lava

is going to come across the highway

within the next few weeks or months.

NARRATOR: Phil Ong is a volcanologist and guide on the Big Island.

He's seen how lava flows creep up on communities

all over the island.

PHIL: You can see the natural topography is important

to direct lava flow in certain directions.

You can see when the flow first comes down

it's going to be fairly hot and fluid.

It will follow the contours of the land

into the low spots below.

NARRATOR: The lava moves slowly

and has a very distinct way of building its own new mass.

PHIL: It will first put out a small finger,

freeze and form a shell, pressurize the inside,

and burst out in small lobes in either direction,

slowly filling in a whole area.

NARRATOR: The fact that the town of Pahoa is in danger

is a surprise to the residents.

The lava is coming from Kilauea's active vent

called Pu'u 'O'o, which is far away.

Traditionally the flows would freeze

long before they reached the town.

But in this case the lava has changed course.

It has gone underground through some large ground cracks.

This means it can travel farther and retain its heat longer.

Now the flows have resurfaced dangerously close to Pahoa.

Because it moves so slowly, no one has to make a run for it.

It gives the residents time to wait and see what happens.

The way the lava flows from here is unpredictable.

For the residents of the town,

not sure of the direction of the flow

or how long it will last,

the unpredictability is both the good news and the bad news.

PHIL: It was a little bit of a surprise

that the lava came in this direction so quickly,

and it caught people a little bit off guard

when it started moving away from the crack

down toward this community.

So people had maybe a one- or two-week warning

that lava might come through this neighborhood

within that time.

Fortunately, since then the lava has diverted

and gone around the homesteads towards Pahoa.

The flow is moving at its fastest

at about 300 meters per day, and that would put it

about five days out from this road at that rate.

But it's slowed down since then

and so now we don't have a projection of where it'll go

and how fast it'll go.

NARRATOR: As the lava slowly makes it way towards town,

Pahoa holds a crisis meeting.

It's led by the The United States Geological Survey

or the USGS.

This is the government body

tasked with monitoring the volcano.

In this crisis, they are working with the communities

to keep people informed and safe.

STEVEN: So this is a map you're all familiar with.

The lava still has Pahoa in its path.

The advance rates of the lava flow continues to vary.

And as long as it continues to vary from one day

to the next, or from one week to the next,

any of the projections we try to make

are going to be wrong.

NARRATOR: With the flows now just days away from town,

the meetings have become more frequent.

BILLY: So much of this is beyond our control.

And it's important for us as leaders

to ask for guidance, to ask for kindness,

to ask for blessings.

NARRATOR: The lava is now on the outskirts of town

and heading directly towards its first building,

the city's recycling transfer station.

If the lava keeps going, it will cut off Ap-ah Road,

and with it the electricity supply to several communities.

This will serve as a test for the government.

Just beyond at the main highway lie the power lines

for the main town of Pahoa

and for the southern section of the island.

These flows may go on for years,

so solutions are needed quickly.

Hydro poles are converted to taller concrete ones,

and they are testing to find out

if they can further insulate their bases.

With the preparations done, all anyone can do

is watch and wait as lava approaches the transfer station.

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NARRATOR: The first fingers of lava reach the fence.

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NARRATOR: The flow moves into the parking lot,

but luckily stops just short of the recycling depot.

The lava has gone as far as it can.

It may seem like a win for the town, and a close call.

But volcanoes work on cycles.

It is likely the flow will resume once it regains pressure

from the summit, which could take days or weeks.

The cooling lava flows have drastically altered

the area around Ap-Ah Road.

And if the lava continues to advance,

Pahoa and the surrounding landscape will be transformed.

To understand what that could be like,

all the residents need to do is look at the village of Kalapana.

PHIL: This is the area that has been rebuilt

on top of the 1990 lava flow that first came through the area

to destroy the village of Kalapana.

So you can see up on the far horizon

the fumes from Pu'u O'o crater.

That's where the flow started and then moved down

the big hillside through what used to be a town here,

before the one you see behind me.

Created all this black rock.

After about 15 years, lava started flowing

somewhere farther away and people got confidence

and rebuilt their houses here.

NARRATOR: If the lava continues to move through Pahoa,

the residents will have to abandon their homes

and find another place to live.

This is part of the uncertainty

of living near an active volcano.

It's a force that can't be tamed or reasoned with.

And so the people have to be prepared

to pick up their lives and move.

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NARRATOR: Because of the almost constant volcanic activity of Kilauea,

90% of the surface area is less than 1,200 years old.

And the activity has created some other-worldly landscapes.

PHIL: These fissure eruptions create really unique landscapes.

This is a spatter rampart from a fissure eruption.

You can see the lava shot in the air and dropped down

while it was still liquid.

And you see it landed and started oozing

and dripping down, forming these lobes

and these needles you can see coming down.

We actually have two different structures here,

probably two different trees.

The lava landed on top of them, burned the canopy off,

and made a small bridge across one of the branches, perhaps.

But you can also see that we have plants growing back

already on top of this very porous rock.

And these are areas that Hawaiians will often refer to

as the centers of creation, but also of destruction.

They go hand in hand.

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PHIL: These are lava trees.

As the fissure erupted on that side of the spatter rampart,

it sent a flash flood of lava sweeping through

this small valley, and all the trees

in this small valley got buried

all the way to the top of these tree casts,

these stone casts.

The trees would have been taller than this,

but the top part would have been exposed to the air

and burned away.

NARRATOR: The living tree was burned up within a coating of lava.

What's left creates a biological record

of the vegetation in stone.

PHIL: What we are actually looking at is what we call a trace fossil.

It's not a fossil of the actual living being itself,

in this case the tree, but actually an imprint of it

showing was here at some point in time,

even though the original being has left.

NARRATOR: Not much is known about this eruption

other than it was brief,

possibly only lasting a few days,

but producing a high volume of lava.

PHIL: What happened is that the lava kept flowing

beyond here into a crater adjoining us.

And that allowed the level of the lava floor

to drop everywhere except where it was pinned up

by these structures, by these trees.

NARRATOR: The lava flows at Pahoa have stalled for a few days.

But that's about to change.

Back at the summit, the volcano has already begun

to re-pressurize.

When that happens the molten magma rises

from deep within the earth

and collects in the reservoir underneath the volcano's summit.

As the reservoir fills up,

the pressure causes the entire volcano

to inflate like a balloon.

Over the past centuries these constant cycles

have pushed the whole southern half of Kilauea

towards the ocean, creating a split

right through the volcano called a rift.

The rift runs on an east-west axis.

Instead of overflowing at the summit,

which requires a lot of pressure to push the magma vertically,

the fluid lava takes an easier route,

pushing through the weaknesses in the rift zone.

Over the past 50 years there have been several active craters

along Kilauea's east rift zone.

Eruptive activity in these craters

can last a few days to decades.

The current eruption has lasted more then 30 years.

That eruptive crater is called Pu'u 'O'o.

PHIL: This area has historically had a lot of eruptions

with lava lakes present many times

over the last hundred years.

And we've actually see a return of lava

to this area in 2008.

Since then the crater has grown and expanded.

It continues to release gas every day,

and what's interesting is that it's actually sustained

enough pressure despite this opening

to continue pushing lava to Pu'u O'o crater

on the rift zone.

NARRATOR: When the pressure builds within the summit,

the lava lake rises, producing a strong glow at night.

This continues for several days until the cycle begins again.

Pu'u 'O'o Crater is off-limits to everyone

for several reasons.

The ground around the crater is unstable,

and the vents release a lot of hot and dangerous gases.

To get a good look at it,

Phil heads to the Napau campsite that sits directly over

the rift zone and across from Pu'u 'O'o.

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PHIL: This is the Napau Crater.

It's the closest place to safely view Pu'u O'o.

At the moment, with the Kona winds today,

we're upwind of the fumes.

It's getting dark; we should be able to see

a glow coming from the top of the crater pretty soon.

As the clouds and fumes blow overtop of it,

it'll reflect and hopefully intensify the orange-ness of it.

NARRATOR: The lava fills up the crater

making what's known as a 'lava lake.'

That creates the main glow.

The lake feeds an underground system of tubes

that carry the molten lava to the flow front.

The glowing lava can be seen through the openings

in the ground called skylights.

While the crater is active, it is impossible to see

how the lava is channelled back under the ground.

Phil visits an inactive vent from a previous eruption site

called Mauna Ulu,

which is similar to the Pu'u 'O'o vent.

PHIL: This is the summit crater of Mauna Ulu lava shield.

It goes back down to to where the ground was

before this eruption began.

And what we see inside it are layers,

first of the cinders that erupted

from the fountain of lava, then layers of lava

that poured from the lava chute over the top of the cinder cone

and formed this whale-backed lava chute

we're standing on today.

You can see how steep the walls are from the collapse,

and all the rubble at the bottom of the crater.

NARRATOR: This is the mouth of an extinct lava tube.

Lava tubes are one of the reasons that a shield volcano

resembles a large hill, rather than a big cone.

The tubes are the main arteries of a flow

that carries the molten material far from the erupting vent.

This is in stark contrast to the stratovolcano

where the lava is more viscous,

and is often blown out of the vent in violent explosions.

[Explosion]

PHIL: The way a lava tube forms is by the lava itself

freezing on the surface, an outer shell,

but continuing to be pressurized on the inside

and pushing forward.

So what happens is over time the mass of lava

moving through this pipeline will carve its way down

and make a big opening, like you see below me.

Once you have that surrounding layer of rock,

it acts as an insulator and holds in much of the heat

of the lava flow.

We've actually measured from Pu'u O'o

the temperature of the lava

between the eruption site and the ocean,

and it only loses about five degrees

across the five- or nine-mile distance.

NARRATOR: When a volcano erupts there are periods

when it produces more lava than the lake can hold.

The excess spills out, creating an overflow channel.

PHIL: This is the overflow channel from Mauna Ulu's lava lake.

As lava spilled over the crater,

it would come rushing down this channel in front of us,

physically carving out the rocks below it

but also sloshing over the edges

and forming all these thin layers of lava

across which we're walking right now.

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NARRATOR: The Mauna Ulu crater is directly over

Kilauea's rift zone.

Magma is moving under the ground in this area.

You can't feel it or directly see it,

but as rain water percolates through the ground

it's heated by the molten magma

and comes back out in the form of steam.

Extinct lava tubes and other volcanic features

have been used by traditional Hawaiian culture

over the centuries.

They were often used for defensive purposes.

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PHIL: This is a pu'uhonua, a place of refuge.

A place that Hawaiians built, adapting a lava tube

into a place they could protect themselves

and also store their valuables,

as well as collect water and other uses like that.

It's constructed in such a way to have a very narrow entrance

so that it could be easily defended

by one big Hawaiian warrior with a spear.

You can see how narrow this opening is right here.

We basically have to crawl through

on our hands and knees to get through.

NARRATOR: The tube is big enough that whole village

could seek refuge here and wait out an attacking army.

They were well-stocked ahead of time,

not only in war but also in daily life.

PHIL: Lava tubes were used for many reasons,

including refrigeration, shelter,

but also to collect water.

Set up a little tripod with rocks,

put a gourd in the bottom,

and collect drips from those little hanging obstacles

from the ceiling.

This is where it opens up to the ocean.

When the Hawaiians were using this cave,

it was actually all the way closed off.

But a big earthquake in 1975 caused a cliff to fall away

and create this opening.

NARRATOR: When the lava flows cease,

gravity causes the tubes to empty.

And this one, like many on the island,

ends at the ocean.

PHIL: We would have had a big ocean entry

with lots of steam happening right here.

Once the flow was over and the tube cooled down

many years later,

then the Hawaiians modified it for their shelter.

[Distant sirens]

NARRATOR: Back at Pahoa, the city is once again on alert.

The re-pressurization at Kilauea's main crater

has taken five days to reenergize the lava flows.

The flows that had stopped just outside the transfer

are once again on the move.

And it's not good news from the head of Hawaii's Civil Defense.

DARRYL: Right now the flow rate over the last 24-hour period

has been approximately 10 yards per hour,

so it's pretty consistent.

But when you average that out throughout the day

we do have periods where it does accelerate

and periods where it appears to slow down

and even come to almost a stall.

But it is active, it is advancing.

NARRATOR: The first fingers stretch over Ap-ah Road.

The heat of the molten lava is so intense,

the tarmac begins to burn.

The lava flow has enough energy to keep pushing it forward.

This is a shield volcano in action;

the slow-moving lava flows inch along.

The residents of this house would have had

plenty of time to evacuate.

But all it takes is the touch of one small finger of lava.

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[Crashing]

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NARRATOR: If the flows pass over the main town road and keep going,

the main highway will be next.

If that goes, then Pahoa's 8,000 residents

will be cut off from the rest of the island.

DARRYL: So this morning, as I mentioned,

the flow is still active, still moving.

As far as any questions, a timeline before it hits

Pahoa Village road, as we've shared before,

it's very difficult to forecast with any certainty

but based on the current distance we're looking at

some time in the next 24-36 hours,

if it was to hold in the same track, path,

and rate of advancement.

NARRATOR: The lava creeps along,

destroying everything in its path.

It is burning its way towards the main road to town.

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NARRATOR: Then a stroke of luck:

the lava flow has run out of steam

and stops suddenly about half a block from the main road.

But the threat isn't over.

The lava flow has broken out in a new direction

further uphill and is taking a new path towards Pahoa.

It's now heading straight for a major shopping plaza

on the outskirts of town.

At the current rate, this new flow

will reach the plaza in two weeks.

Again, the people of Pahoa can only wait and see

what Kilauea will do.

How long Kilauea can continue erupting is unknown;

not even the scientist can say for certain.

USGS SCIENTIST: Well, I mean, if you look at the geologic precedent,

this eruption has been going on for 30 years.

Over in other portions of the volcano

where we've mapped the geologic history,

it's not uncommon for pahoehoe shields

building flows to last up to 50-60 years.

And on Mauna Loa there was a period where lava flows

lasted for five centuries.

NARRATOR: Half a world away on the Indonesian island of Sumatra,

another volcano is threatening the people who live nearby.

Unlike Kilauea in Hawaii, Sinabung is a stratovolcano.

It has a thick, viscous lava.

When Sinabung erupts, the lava collects on the summit

and builds what is called the lava dome.

[Explosion]

NARRATOR: Each new eruption of magma adds onto the dome,

pushing it outwards and making it prone to collapse.

When it does collapse, it sends a rush

of super-heated volcanic gas and rock downhill

in a avalanche called a pyroclastic flow.

It burns and destroys everything in its path.

Pyroclastic flows are fast and deadly.

In 1902, pyroclastic flows from Mt. Pelee

on the Caribbean Island of Martinique

killed 30,000 people when a hot ash cloud

descended on the town of Saint Pierre.

Indonesia has 150 active volcanoes,

so the threat is a constant reality.

Andi Susanto is an internationally renowned

volcano guide.

It's arguable that he has more direct experience

with Indonesia's active volcanoes

than anyone in the world.

ANDI: The activity of Sinabung actually is at level 3.

Level 3, that means this is in a status alert.

NARRATOR: Level 3 is given to a volcano that has the potential

to produce a large eruption.

ANDI: Now we can see that there is a pyroclastic flow

that you can see from here.

NARRATOR: Level 4 indicates a volcano

that is in a major eruptive phase.

ANDI: According to the people from the hotels,

last night was one of the biggest pyroclastic flows,

and also this morning, like around 5:00.

NARRATOR: They head to a point close to the volcano

just outside the main exclusion zone.

A volcano that produces this type of eruption

requires extra caution.

ANDI: Now you can see that our position is--

I would say we are in the certain safe distance.

So now we are in 4.5 kilometers.

The first danger zone is located in 3 until 4.

So any people who live in the four-kilometer

from the summit are not allowed to live there.

NARRATOR: Natural topography defines exclusion zones

around volcanos.

Here a small river and gorge provide protection

to channel any small to moderate pyroclastic flows

that might come off the volcano.

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ANDI: I use this place because of these considerations:

that we are still in a safe distance

and then we can see with an open view,

explosions or even pyroclastic flow down the mountains.

NARRATOR: Over the past few weeks a new pulse of magma

has been extruding from the vent under the dome.

Big blocks of lava have been pushed over the precipice.

When the dome gets too big, the pressure and gravity

cause small bits and rocks to break off.

Suddenly a section shears off.

[Rumbling]

[Rumbling]

NARRATOR: The rock disintegrates, releasing burning hot gases

that have been trapped inside lava.

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NARRATOR: The lava boulders break into small super-heated pieces

of rock and ash that billow up from the volcano

in an ash column.

ANDI: Phew!

So finally we just saw the eruptions with ash column.

It's almost about 1.5 kilometer vertically,

and also spreading out down there,

you can see near the valley.

The activity of Sinabung now is currently still quite active.

NARRATOR: This was small, but as the dome grows

over the next few days,

the flows will get much bigger.

Once considered dormant, Sinabung came back to life

in 2010 after a 500-year slumber.

A number of small towns in the danger zone

have been abandoned.

Several months ago, some of the people in the danger zones

ignored the warnings with tragic results.

ANDI: There is, like, a small village, actually located only about

three kilometers from the summit.

So the name is Bakira, and then, the next is Sukameira.

Those villages were hit by the pyroclastic flow

on 1st February.

Fourteen people were killed by that pyroclastic flow

and eruptions.

NARRATOR: Every volcano that poses a risk to populations

in Indonesia is monitored by the government's

geological agency.

Sinabung was dormant for so long

that it was not even on their radar.

The volcano's mineral-rich, fertile soils

attracted farming communities.

When it woke up in 2010, evacuations began.

3,000 people were forced to leave their homes.

The government tried to relocate as many as possible.

The rest ended up at a refugee camp

where they have been living for more than four years

waiting for new housing that the government has promised

to build for them.

But they are subsistence farmers,

and when the volcano's activity is calm,

they brave the extreme danger and go back to their villages

to harvest their crops,

which they sell at the refugee center market.

The situation is part of life in Indonesia.

This is Karangatang Volcano in North Sulawesi.

Andi visits a nearby village,

hit by pyroclastic flows, now abandoned.

ANDI: Now we are in a very dangerous area.

This volcano has been active for a long time,

and it always normally remains in level 3.

NARRATOR: When pyroclastic flows hit a town

there is no safe place to hide.

Along with the debris, there is what is called

a pyroclsic surge, which is mostly made up

of burning hot gasses and ash.

ANDI: It's quite thick.

You know, even in the floors, almost five centimeters,

you know, the thickness of a surge.

So, the people always have to stand by here.

It's quite dangerous.

People have been evacuated all, so relocated,

and are not allowed to live here any more.

It's... yeah, it's terrible.

The situation now in Karangatang is very active,

so this volcano has been very active since May until today.

NARRATOR: Andi knows this situation first-hand.

He too lives on a dangerous volcano that is known

to produce devastating and deadly pyroclastic flows.

Mount Merapi is Indonesia's most active big volcano.

It erupts every two to three years,

and produces major eruptions every 10 to 12 years.

Its last major eruption was in 2010.

More than 300 people died, including Andi's close friend

and mentor Mbah Pujo.

ANDI: So this is the house of my lovely friend Mbah Pujo

and his wife.

He is one of my best friends I have.

I always remember this place very, very well.

In my imagination I still stay in the room,

I still have the feeling that I'm talking with him.

This is the house, the meeting rooms.

This is the Ino, for the livestock there.

And behind there, in the back,

he used for kitchens.

I liked this place because it's near volcano.

It's my hobby, and it's my, you know, profession.

NARRATOR: Mbah inspired Andi to follow his passion for volcanoes.

Mbah Pujo was head the of the Merapi Mountain Guiding Club

where Andi worked as a guide.

ANDI: At the time, as usual we discuss about Merapi,

now it's getting more increased

and the increase can be dangerous.

But, you know, he's an old man that I respect,

and maybe he knows better than me.

NARRATOR: Andi was away at the time of the eruption,

but came back to see his friend in the hospital.

ANDI: So this was the last time I visited him

and then I talked to him, but I knew already

that his wife already died.

I visited him in the hospital, in the ICU,

[inaudible], you know...

It's bad conditions, because, you know...

he got burned in almost more than 60% of his skin.

And then when I visited him he always asked me,

"Andi, where is my wife, where is my wife?"

And I was crying.

NARRATOR: Andi was one of the first responders

who risked their own life to help victims

in the immediate aftermath.

This woman's husband returned to the village

to tend to their animals and crops

and was caught in the eruption and died.

The government has tried to find ways to protect farmers

who get caught by a sudden eruption.

They built an underground bunker they hoped

would provide a safe haven during a pyroclastic flow.

Its first trial was during an eruption in 2006.

Tragically, the bunker was a failure.

ANDI: You can see the layer of the bunker is about five meters.

And with a thick wall.

The members of the rescue team tried to evacuate people here.

And this doesn't work, you know,

because the pyroclastic flow has the temperature

of 800 until 1000 degrees, so we can imagine.

NARRATOR: Two people who sought refuge in it died.

The intense heat was so great,

it turned the bunker into an oven.

It now serves as a macabre monument,

and tourist attraction for people coming to see Merapi.

ANDI: One guy you know died in the bathroom,

and one guy actually here.

Maybe they tried to lock the door.

But maybe was late, you know.

NARRATOR: There's no way of knowing whether the two people

held the door open, waiting for other people.

ANDI: They use, even, you know, an excavator.

They use anything; you know, people try to help.

Many people tried to know what happened with the two victims.

NARRATOR: The bunker is not the only reminder

of Merapi's deadly ways.

Despite the death tolls from Merapi

that stretch into the thousands over the past centuries,

people still choose to live here.

ANDI: They depend their life from the volcano.

They make money from the sand, from the rock.

From the ash, because the ash can give the fertile soil.

So anything can grow here.

NARRATOR: They go back to their houses despite the warning level

for very simple reasons.

ANDI: You know, it was in level 3.

And then also it was very quick that the authority

from the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia

changed the status to become level 4 in a week.

So they still worried about their livestock

they have to feed.

And also try to check on what they have,

their property, that anything is still safe.

NARRATOR: In the years since the eruptions,

the ruined villages serve as a potent reminder

of the dangers of volcanoes.

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ANDI: This is about 13 kilometers from the summit.

Local people call this a museum,

but actually this is like a private house.

The name of the family is Yanto.

They lost everything because of the pyroclastic flow.

But he was in the evacuations, in the shelter.

And so they collect all the things that are left

from the last eruptions.

Local people here, they like to visit

and watch this museum, because they want to study,

they want to see what happened, you know?

NARRATOR: The artifacts reflect the haste in which people left.

Unlike the volcanoes in Hawaii where people had time

to pack their belongings and move,

here everything was abandoned.

Every item is a reminder of what happens

when the intense heat from a volcano

interacts with man-made objects.

It's another reminder that in the face of the elemental

forces of nature, we are sometimes simply helpless.

A wall clock has captured the moment

that changed thousands of lives forever.

ANDI: The last massive, the biggest eruption of Merapi volcano.

This is Friday already, five minutes after midnight,

on the 5th November of 2010.

This family just want to show to the people to be aware

about Merapi and the dangers of volcanos.

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NARRATOR: A secondary effect of an eruption is a lahar.

Heavy rains carry pyroclastic flow debris

into streams and rivers.

These deadly mud flows can reach much further

than the initial eruption.

In the town of Armero, Columbia, 23,000 people were killed

when a lahar from the Nevado Del Ruiz volcano

buried their town.

In 2010 at Merapi, a massive volume of pyroclastic debris

was washed downstream.

It jammed the bridge that spans Yogjakarata's main highway

and caused the river to divert through the center of town.

Years later, the town is still digging out,

and some of its residents are still haunted

by that fateful night.

Many stayed at home, despite a warning

from the government to evacuate.

That decision nearly cost some people their lives.

Bapak Warto was one of them.

ANDI: He was living here during the lahar flow.

You know, was buried like this, you know?

Almost, you know, get up to the neck like this.

NARRATOR: As he stood in the rising waters,

the ash settled around his lower half, trapping him.

Through the night, as the water level rose,

he struggled to keep his head above water.

With no immediate chance of rescue,

he thought he was going to die.

NARRATOR: The river carried boulders as big as cars

that crashed into houses, tearing them apart.

One crashed into Warto's house.

It was a lucky break.

The water was diverted away from him,

ultimately saving his life.

Others were not so lucky.

Most of the residents chose to relocate,

but some like Bapak Warto, chose to rebuild.

ANDI: Here, so actually now when we see this,

this is his house.

This is the floor. Like, living room, you know?

Normally he with his family are living together,

you know, watching television.

So, this was, like, buried by the liquid

of the lahar flow, and lahar deposits.

And now he has already moved here.

This is actually the new buildings that we built

after the lahar flow.

This is something that's left after the destruction

from the lahar flow of Merapi Volcano.

NARRATOR: In the end, the lesson learned here

is that only safe answer is to move people away

from the volcano's path.

It will be years before the former residents

from Sinabung's danger zone can even consider rebuilding.

Most have accepted the government's plan

to relocate them.

Their homes will be in one of several towns

built by the military.

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NARRATOR: The first families have already started to move in.

Here, they will be safe from the volcano.

For those who live just outside the restricted zone,

Sinabung's eruptions are now the new normal.

They're re-building their lives as best they can,

living in houses far enough away to be safe at night.

But during the day they're still tied to the danger zones

around the volcano where they continue

to grow their crops.

What the future holds for the volcano is uncertain.

Little is known about its eruptive history

and whether this volcano is capable

of a much larger eruption.

For now it remains very active.

[Explosion]

[Rumbling]

[Rumbling]

[Rumbling]

[Rumbling]

[Rumbling]

[Rumbling]

[Rumbling]

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NARRATOR: Back in Hawaii, the residents of Pahoa

are once again waiting to see if they'll be forced out

of their community.

The new lava flows are within a city block

of the shopping center.

But just as before, they get a lucky break.

The flow once again burns itself out.

A few weeks later,

this flow no longer seems to be a threat.

The lava has changed direction,

and is now affecting an unpopulated area.

However, the community that once felt it was safe

from Kilauea is now living a different reality.

They know that without warning, the next pulse from Kilauea

could send the lava farther and destroy their town.

In our era, human beings

have bent the natural world to our will:

cutting down forests, mowing down grasslands

and paving over natural spaces

to create a world that suits our needs.

But the volcanoes are an exception.

They are a force of nature that we cannot tame.

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