Some Recent Disasters in Indonesia

_ Jan. 1: An Indonesian plane disappears in stormy weather after issuing a distress signal during a two-hour flight from East Java to Manado.

_ Dec. 29, 2006: A crowded Indonesian ferry, carrying nearly 640 passengers, breaks apart and sinks in the Java Sea during a violent storm. At least 400 are still missing.

_ Dec. 23, 2006: Days of heavy rain touch off floods that kill more than 100 people and displace over 400,000 on northwestern Sumatra island.

_ June 19, 2006: Heavy rains cause floods and mud flows that kill as many as 300 people in southern Sulawesi province.

_ May 27, 2006: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in central Java island kills at least 5,800 people and injures more than 36,000.

_ May 2006: A series of explosions spew hot ash down the slopes of Mount Merapi, eventually forcing at least 15,000 villagers to flee their homes.

_ May 2006: Mud flows, set off by an accident deep in a drilling shaft operated by a gas exploration company, displace more than 10,000 people and cover over 1,000 acres of land on Java island.

_ Jan. 4, 2006: At least 200 people are killed when mud and rock covers the village of Cijeruk on Java island in a landslide.

_ Sept. 4, 2005: An Indonesian jet crashes in a residential neighborhood in Medan, the country's third largest city, killing at least 149 people, including 47 on the ground.

_ March 28, 2005: At least 647 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless in a 8.7-magnitude earthquake that hits Nias, Banyak and Simeulue islands off the coast of Sumatra.

_ Dec. 26, 2004: An 8.9-magnitude earthquake sets off a tsunami that kills more than 126,000 people in Indonesia, mostly in Aceh province on Sumatra island, in the country's worst disaster. More than 100,000 others die in several other countries.

© 2006 The Associated Press.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16430595/