Merapi activity intensifies<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA: The Mount Merapi volcano continued to intensify
\nits activity on Thursday, causing the Yogyakarta Volcanology and
\nDevelopment Research Station (BPPTK) to upgrade the volcano to
\nhigh alert status.<\/p>\n
BPPTK head Syamsul Rizal said that after calming down for
\nabout three hours on Wednesday, the 2,968-meter-high volcano
\ndischarged hot clouds every two minutes for a period of one hour
\naround noon on Thursday.<\/p>\n
According to Rizal, such frequent discharges of gas clouds,
\ntogether with the continuous lava emissions, could signal the
\nimminent collapse of the newly formed lava dome, or Kubah 2001 as
\nit has been named.<\/p>\n
\"This is what we are worried about at this moment. If this
\nhappens, the people living on the mountain's slopes will be in
\ndanger,\" Rizal added.<\/p>\n
The BPPTK also reported that early on Thursday morning between
\nmidnight and 6 a.m., Merapi discharged hot clouds 53 times. Most
\nof the clouds ran along the Kali Sat and Kali Senowo and had a
\ndischarge distance of up to four kilometers.<\/p>\n
He said the volcano's status could be raised to red alert,
\nwith evacuation being conducted immediately after, only when the
\nlava and the hot gas discharged reached a distance of about seven
\nkilometers from the peak.<\/p>\n
Rizal also said that a thin covering of dust was blanketing
\nthe Deles area (Klaten, Central Java), which is located to the
\neast of the volcano. (swa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/merapi-activity-intensifies-1447893297",
"image": ""
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