After a very early call this morning, a representative of the Indonesian authorities called to pick up some MapAction maps. They are currently using base maps from the 1940's and were looking for something more up to date, to aid in any potential evacuation of the Mount Merapi slopes.

Children in tented accommodation at Bantul (pic: UN-OCHA) 

Mount Merapi is now erupting more vigorously, and Alex and Anne watched huge plumes of ash spewing from the mountain, located to the north of the UN building from which they are working. An Indonesian vulcanologist stated that the noisier the volcano, the safer it is; silence is more deadly. A small reassurance.

The team is waiting for new data has come in from the field over the past 24 hours, pinpointing evacuation routes, emergency shelters, distribution points etc. The UN is tomorrow sending out a group of boy scouts on motorbikes to collect field data from some of the villages on the slopes of Mount Merapi...bringing back memories of Sri Lanka after the tsunami when a local off-road car club gave good service in a similar role!

Today a local GIS consultant casually ambled into MapAction's office with vector data designed for 1:25,000 scaled topographic mapping covering the whole area. Suddenly, we have more background data than we know what to do with. It's a difficult task making best use of this valuable data, without over-crowding our maps.

Last night the team moved accommodation, along with the UN-OCHA group they are working with. This proved fortuitous today, when the electricity circuit in the UN building failed. Alex and Anne immediately decamped to the hotel lobby where they set up the printer and laptops, in a wireless hotspot, and have been working to the background noise of the local traditional gamelan music: comments from Alex have been omitted to preserve cultural sensitivity!

The team is currently focused on preparing and printing maps for a UN coordination meeting on Monday. This will be the first meeting held at the UN building, which is out on a ring road, and a bit out on a limb. The UN will have the office here for about the next six months. Several UNDAC members are leaving tomorrow because their mission to support the early relief phase is complete.

Just when nightfall drew a veil over the smouldering Mount Merapi, the team felt an aftershock from the earthquake, a reminder if, any was needed, of the immense geological forces constantly in play in this part of the world. The pair setted down to a long night ahead in the glow of laptop screens in a corner of the hotel reception.