Yogyakarta Palace Damaged

Yogyakarta Palace, which serves as a bridge between modernity and tradition in the ancient city, was not spared when the earth unleashed its fury Saturday morning.

The earthquake caused the palace's Bangsal Trajumas pavilion to collapse on a sacred set of gamelan instruments. The pavilion is a popular tourist attraction that pays tribute to the royal family, whose line can be traced back to the Mataram era in the 16th century.

Since the 1970s, the pavilion has been used to store the palace's sacred treasures.

On Sunday, the collapsed pavilion was left as it was, with abdi dalem (royal servants) only surveying the scene.

"Sultan Hamengkubuwono X has not yet arrived to see this tragedy," two of the palace's security officials, Harjimah and Kartini, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

The sultan, who is also Yogyakarta governor, was in Surabaya when the disaster struck and is on his way home.

Antara reported the quake also damaged the sultan's private home, but did not offer details.

Twelve other buildings in the palace compound were damaged in the early morning quake. Several windows in Hamengkubuwono X Museum broke, and other buildings suffered cracked walls and other damage.

"The palace is closed to tourists until Tuesday. Journalists are only allowed to take pictures of the damaged Bangsal Trajumas, but not other damaged parts of the palace. That has to wait for the sultan's permission," Kartini said.

The sultan's brothers, including Prince Joyo Kusumo, have inspected the compound.

A palace employee, Wahono, said there had been other large earthquakes in the past, such as one in 1867 which destroyed Tugu Yogyakarta monument and damaged parts of the palace and Taman Sari garden. Source

Prambanan Temple Complex Damage

Hours after the devastating earthquake, archaeologists surveying the Prambanan Temple complex in Yogyakarta found extensive damage to the ancient site, with stone blocks and statues scattered about the ground.

Earthquake in Central Java

A powerful earthquake (6.2 magnitude ) rocked Indonesia's Central Java province early Saturday, damaging buildings and killing at least 10 people, state media and witnesses said.
The bodies of at least 10 quake victims were at the city's Bethseda hospital, state news agency Antara reported.

A witness in the city told The Associated Press he had seen three bodies under the rubble of two houses and that scores of injured were being taken to the city's hospitals in pickup trucks. That report couldn't immediately be confirmed with authorities.

Injuries were also reported in the nearby cities of Solo and Bantul.

Police said electricity and communications across Yogyakarta were knocked out.

The quake cracked the runway in Yogyakarta's airport, closing it to aircraft until at least Sunday while inspections take place, Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said.

"It felt really powerful, and the whole building shook," said Narman, a receptionist at a hotel in the city. "Everyone ran from their rooms."

In the chaos that followed the quake, rumors of an impending tsunami sent thousands of people fleeing to higher ground in cars and motorbikes. The city is around 20 miles from the sea, and more than two hours after the quake no tsunami had occurred.

Shortly before the quake, the nearby Mount Merapi volcano sent out a cloud of hot gas and ash. It was not immediately clear if the volcanic activity and the earthquake were linked.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A magnitude 6 quake has the potential to cause severe damage.

Yahoo News

Beskap, The Traditional Javanese Clothes

Beskap is male traditional javanese clothes.

Merapi !!!

Mount Merapi is a conical volcano in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted 68 times since 1548. Its name means Mountain of Fire. It is very close to the city of Yogyakarta, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1700 m above sea level. In light of the hazards it poses to populated areas, it has been designated a Decade Volcano



In April 2006, increased seismicity at more regular intervals and a detected bulge in the volcano's cone indicated that fresh eruptions were imminent. Authorities put the volcano's neighboring villages on high alert and local residents prepared for a likely evacuation. On 19 April smoke from the crater reached a height of 400 metres, compared to 75 metres the previous day. On 23 April, after nine surface tremors and some 156 multifaced quakes signalled movements of magma, some 600 elderly and infant residents of the slopes were evacuated, their places partly taken by tourists drawn to the area[2].

By early May, active lava flows had begun. On 11 May, with lava flow beginning to be constant, some 17,000 people were ordered to be evacuated from the area[3] and on 13 May, Indonesian authorities raised the alert status to the highest level, red, ordering the immediate evacuation of all residents on the mountain believing an eruption is imminent.[4]. Scientists expect that explosive eruptions will occur in the near future.

Monas

The Monumen Nasional (or Tugu Monas, the National Monument tower) is a 450 ft (137 m) tall tower in Central Jakarta, symbolizing the fight for Indonesia's Independence. Its construction began in 1961 under Sukarno and not finished until 1975 under Suharto. It is topped by a 14.5 tonnes of flame-shaped bronze plated in 35 kg (1125 troy ounces) of gold.

Visitors can take a lift up to a platform with a good view on Medan Merdeka Park, Istiqlal Mosque and the city (if it's not too foggy); inside the base of the monument is an exhibition of the declaration of independence and several dioramas showing the history of Indonesia.

The National Monument is one of the monuments in Jakarta erected to commemorate the Indonesian people fighting against the Dutch colonialist. The monument is located in central Jakarta, it is at the Lapangan monas (Monas square). The monument, with its unique style and is 137 m in height , was made of marbles with phallus form symbolizing the fertilizing. The flaming torch shape weighing 14.5 kg and is plated with 35 kg gold is placed on the top of the monument . The torch symbolizes the Indonesian people fighting for independence. The monument, erected at a 80-hectare land was officially opened for public on 12 July 1975, is known as Tugu Monas. The architect for this monument was Soedarsono and F. Silaban and the consultant was Ir. Rooseno. Before it is popular with Tugu Monas, the monument had five names, they were Lapangan Gambir, Lapangan Ikada, Lapangan Merdeka, Lapangan Monas and Taman Monas. Parks, two ponds and the open-air sport field surrounds the monument. This monument become the well-known tourist object for the holiday goers in Jakarta . Inside the monument is the museum and a hall for meditation and it is equipped with the elevator. At the top of the monument the Jakarta city is seen to be more crowded. The monument daily opens at 9:00 am - 04:00 pm.