Chapter 24

“Tessa said you’d called.”

“Yes. Have you seen the news?”

“Not today. Tessa said you’d mentioned Sumatra.”

“Yes. There’s been another of those big quakes and two of the volcanoes are erupting!”

“Well, while that’s scary, it can’t come as a surprise. You got me reading about plates.”

Sumatra’s volcanism is caused by the northeastward subduction of the oceanic Indian-Australian plate at speeds of up to 70 mm/year under the continental Sunda plate (which is part of the Eurasian plate).

“Yeah. Anyway, there’s been a set – a sequence? – several big waves. I don’t think they’re tsunamis technically. And a bunch of islands west of Sumatra are flooding.”

“Yes. I can imagine that. There are over a hundred, maybe two hundred islands between Nicobar and Christmas. Which volcanoes are erupting?”

“I wrote ‘em down. Here. Sinabung and Marapi.”

“Well, Sinabung erupted when I was in school. But Marapi’s the most active volcano on the island.”

“And one with the same name on Java’s smoking.”

“Not quite the same name: Merapi not Marapi.”

“Big deal.”

“I wonder what the people there think.”

“What?”

“Well, I’m sure they’re panicky. But the vast majority of Indonesians are Islamic. And though the inhabitants of Islamic countries may explain earthquake and eruption losses in religious terms, there is little evidence to suggest that this inhibits the introduction of programs of planned loss reduction. But I’ve never heard of planning on those islands.”

“Does the Koran mention volcanoes?”

“I don’t think so. It does mention ‘big storms’ – I was told those refer to hurricanes. And there’s earth shaking. We’ve got scientific explanation. And unscientific, too. Anyway, I’m sorry to hear about the destruction. But what can I do? What can we do?”

“Can’t the Great Serpent calm things down?”

“Can you stop the rain? Remember Canute. Sumatra itself is part of an island arc. The island is raised above sea level by the upwelling of hot, buoyant magma, derived from partially melted rocks along the boundary between the subducting plate and the overriding plate. But Sumatra elevating disrupts the trench west of the island. Can we interfere with plate tectonics? I just try to alleviate things. Gabbaitch is part of that. The twins are part of that. Oh, by the way, I think we’ve a new family member.”

“What?”

“A teenager named Lily. She’s half-Japanese. She ran from an orphanage in Broome to Kununurra.”

“What did Tessa say? I’m not allowed to bring women home.”

“Tessa and Lily are changing the twins.”

“Ah, yes. A bonding ritual.” They both laughed. “OK, I’ll let you go. I’m trying to organize an exhibit of Polynesian sculpture so that the kids don’t just giggle at the penises.”

“Bye. And thanks for the Sumatran news.”