THE terror came early in the morning when Renokenongo, a little-known village in Sidoarjo, East Java, was beginning to stir. The villagers were just sipping coffee, smoking leftover cigarettes from the previous day, sweeping the house yards. Haj Soleh was enjoying the morning air when suddenly Boom! the floor of his house was torn apart, from which hot mud gushed out, exuding a pungent nauseating smell.

The man was shocked, and so were dozens of o