Mt. Merapi eruption spews ash over 60 km<\/p>\n
By Israr Ardiansyah and Asip Agus Hasani<\/p>\n
MAGELANG, Central Java (JP): Mt. Merapi, after days of ominous
\nrumbling and minor tremors, finally erupted early yesterday
\nmorning, spewing toxic heat clouds and volcanic ash onto villages
\nseveral kilometers away.<\/p>\n
There have been no reports of casualties as yet. The heat
\nclouds blew to an uninhabited area six kilometers west of the
\nmountain.<\/p>\n
Volcanic ash did hit areas as far as 60 kilometers west and
\nsouthwest of the volcano. Muntilan, 20 kilometers southwest, was
\nblanketed with white ash.<\/p>\n
The volcano observatory in Babadan, four kilometers southwest
\nof Merapi, first recorded signs of activity just after midnight.<\/p>\n
At 4:38 a.m. the observatory officially upgraded Merapi's
\nstatus to highest alert. Twenty minutes later, the volcano
\nerupted.<\/p>\n
Black smoke rose up to 3,000 meters above the 2,968-meter-high
\nmountain in the initial explosion.<\/p>\n
\"We're lucky that the heat clouds didn't head in this
\ndirection toward our post but descended instead on an area which
\nwas uninhabited,\" said Mas Atje Purbawinata from the observatory.<\/p>\n
Villages in the Magelang regency were covered by the most
\nvolcanic ash as houses, trees and roads turned white with dust up
\nto two centimeters thick.<\/p>\n
Observers remain worried of a greater eruption because of the
\nmore than 40 subsequent small eruptions and dozens of volcanic
\ntremors recorded as of 10 a.m. yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"Under normal conditions, there would only be two or three
\ntremors each month,\" Atje said.<\/p>\n
In November 1994, a sudden eruption killed 66 people. In
\nJanuary 1997, more than 8,000 villagers living at the foot of the
\nmountain had to be evacuated when it began spewing ash and lava.<\/p>\n
The worst eruption of this century occurred in 1930, killing
\n1,300.<\/p>\n
The mountain is ringed by several major towns. The city center
\nof Yogyakarta, with a population of two million, is less than 30
\nkilometers south of the mountain; Surakarta with 500,000 people
\nis about 40 kilometers to the east; 25 kilometers to the north,
\nthe town of Salatiga has a population of 100,000 and to the west
\nis Magelang, with a population of one million, is about 30
\nkilometers away.<\/p>\n
Evacuate<\/p>\n
Muntilan resembled a ghost town after the eruption as activity
\nground to a halt.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't think we'd get this 'present' from Merapi. I woke up
\nthis morning and saw everything was dark, but I didn't realize
\nthat it was Merapi's smoke,\" said shop owner Marto as he cleaned
\nhis front patio of a carpet of thick dust.<\/p>\n
People who ventured outside had to cover their faces with
\nmakeshift masks of handkerchiefs to protect themselves from the
\nraining ash.<\/p>\n
Dukun district chief Hamam expressed concern that local crops
\nwould suffer.<\/p>\n
\"I'm worried that hundreds of hectares of tobacco will be
\nruined,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Dukun, with a population of about 40,000, is one of the
\nclosest districts to the mountain.<\/p>\n
There have been no official reports of evacuations.<\/p>\n
Residents remained calm in Krintjing, the closest village to
\nthe mountain in Dukun.<\/p>\n
\"This eruption is really quite normal, really nothing yet. But
\nis we're told to evacuate, then we'll comply,\" remarked local
\nresident Aji, who appeared indifferent to the danger despite the
\nbillowing smoke behind him from one of the world's most active
\nvolcanoes which was less than six-kilometers away.<\/p>\n
Hamam was taken aback by the seeming nonchalance of many
\nresidents living at the foot of the mountain.<\/p>\n
\"I had hundreds of vehicles at the ready to evacuate
\nresidents, but when I got here everyone was so carefree as if
\nnothing had happened. They were sitting around smoking
\ncigarettes.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mt-merapi-eruption-spews-ash-over-60-km-1447893297",
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