JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's rumbling Mount Merapi is spewing volcanic ash, magma has fully covered its crater, and a powerful eruption could come any day, a scientist said Thursday.

[ Indonesian Volcano Could Erupt Any Day - Yahoo! News ]

You'd think that this is near Jakarta, since that's what the byline says, but the Western press seems to only have offices in Jakarta, so any Indonesian news says that.

Then where is Mount Merapi (Gunung Merapi to the locals)? The nearest large city is Yogyakarta, and it's right in central Java, Jakarta is over 300 miles to the east of Mount Merapi, and not in much danger. Makassar (née Ujung Pandang), the city from which my wife hails, is over 800 miles NNE of Mount Merapi.

Does this mean that I don't appreciate this tip? No, it means that I get frustrated with the news feeds that Yahoo and other websites carry, if they leave out this information for places I know something about, what happen when the story is about some place I know nothing about, and I am without any access to the *Internet?

And, while I'm on the subject, why do I only hear about natural disasters in that part of the world?

* Yes, I realize that is impossible.