Impact

NASA Satellite maps of the area before (lower picture) and after (upper picture) the mud flow

After three months, the unprecedented event had made a river of mud on the surface with a total volume of at least 50,000 m³ with an estimated 7,000–150,000 m³ mudflow erupting every day. By early September 2006, a hot torrential mudflow inundated rice paddies and villages, covering an area of approximately 240 ha and resulting in the displacement of more than 11,000 people from eight villages in the Porong subdistrict. Twenty-five factories had to be abandoned. Rice fields and fish and shrimp ponds have been destroyed, which further threatened Sidoarjo's status as the biggest shrimp producer in Indonesia after Lampung. The Marine Resources and Fisheries Ministry has estimated a financial loss of 10.9 billion rupiahs (US$ 1.2 million) to the fisheries business in Tanggulangin and Porong subdistricts. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared the 400 ha area inundated by the mud flow as a disaster-prone area unfit for human habitation. As a consequence, 2,983 families had to be relocated to safer places.

On 23 November 2006, eleven fatalities were reported from the explosion of a gas pipe, possibly caused by the mud flow. The accident occurred because the ground subsided 2 m (6.5 feet) due to the significant outflow of mud and water, and a dike collapsed causing the state-owned Pertamina gas pipeline to rupture. The gas sent flames into the sky and according to the local people, they could feel the heat from one kilometer (0.6 miles) away.

As of February 2007, the erupted mud pool had an estimated total volume of 0.012 km³ (12 million m³), covered an area of 360 ha (1.4 miles²), was up to 10 m (32.8 feet) thick, buried four villages and 25 factories, displaced at least 11,000 people and the eruption was still ongoing. It was expected that the mud eruption will last for years to come and the area will experience a significant depression to form a caldera.

Infrastructure has been damaged extensively, including toll roads, railway tracks, power transmission systems, gas pipelines and national artery roads. Speaking in front of the People's Representative Council, the house speaker Agung Laksono declared that the state budget is needed to finance the infrastructure repairs, while PT Lapindo Brantas will be responsible for financing the repairs and also to pay 2.5 trillion rupiah for compensation to the victims. The Porong-Gempol toll road in East Java province has been significantly damaged by the mud flow and was practically inoperable.

The chairman of the national team to handle the disaster, Basuki Hadimuljono, indicated that a 12 km long 120 m wide corridor will be acquired west of the afflicted area to rebuild the turnpike, and construct a rail line and gas pipe line to restore the disrupted links in the infrastructure. The costs will be carried by the public sector.