Mt. Papandayan dangerous: Officials<\/p>\n
Budianto, The Jakarta Post, Garut, West Java<\/p>\n
Relevant authorities warned on Friday that activity at Mt.
\nPapandayan, which experienced a major explosion early on Friday,
\nhas reached alarming levels, forcing thousands of people living
\nwithin a radius of four kilometers (km) from its peak to flee.<\/p>\n
Mas Atje Purbawinata, a volcanologist from the directorate
\ngeneral for volcanology affairs and mitigation at Bandung, West
\nJava, declared here on Friday that the volcano's status was
\nraised to that of dangerous due to an increase in its activities
\nafter a major eruption at 6:33 a.m. on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"According to our monitoring and seismographic records, the
\nvolcano, after its major eruption early this morning (Friday),
\nhas shown increasing activity by continually spewing hot ash and
\nthick smoke to a height of 6,000 meters.<\/p>\n
\"Consequently, everyone living within a radius of four km of
\nthe volcano's crater must flee to prevent them from being covered
\nin hot ash and from breathing possible noxious gases,\" he told
\nThe Jakarta Post at a monitoring site.<\/p>\n
Purbawinata added that besides, the mountain could trigger hot
\nor cold mudflows if it continued raining above the crater,
\nendangering villages located on the banks of several rivers
\nflowing down the slopes of the volcano.<\/p>\n
\"The volcano poses two serious threats to local people -- hot
\nash and mudflows.<\/p>\n
Garut regent Dede Satibi said the local administration had
\nevacuated the villages of Cibiung, Pangauban, Dungus, Cipelah,
\nCibeureum, Naringgul and Cipaniisan, and more than 2,000
\nvillagers were taking shelter in makeshift accommodation,
\nmosques, school buildings and the premises of the local military.<\/p>\n
\"So far, there have been no problems for the refugees, while
\nhumanitarian relief has continued flowing in from various
\nquarters, including the central and provincial governments and
\nprivate companies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Many villagers have stayed at home due to fresh fears of
\nlooting, while observing the volcano's activities.<\/p>\n
Udin, a resident of Cibiung village, said he had taken his
\nwife and two children to a refuge camp in Cisurupan and then
\nreturned home to keep watch on their belongings.<\/p>\n
Purbawinata said his office had established contact with air
\ntransportation authorities, both at home and in Australia, in
\norder to give them an early warning of possible disruption to
\nflight paths.<\/p>\n
\"Thick smoke spewing out of the volcano could endanger
\nairliners using the airspace in its vicinity,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Wimpy S. Tjetjep, another expert from the directorate general
\nof volcanology affairs and mitigation, said the volcano had
\nspewed out more than one million cubic meters of volcanic
\nmaterial, including silica, magnesium and sulfur, which would be
\ndangerous to humans if it were mixed with the mudflows moving
\ntoward the Cileutik, Cibeureum and Cimanuk Rivers flowing from
\nthe volcano.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, director general of water resources at the Ministry
\nof Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Rustam Syarif said
\nthat some 2,600 hectares of paddy field in the regency were
\nsuffering a shortage of water as the mudflows had damaged several
\ndams on the Cibeureum River.<\/p>\n
\"About Rp 7.5 billion (US$830,000) to Rp 10 billion would be
\nneeded to repair the damaged dams over the next five years,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mt-papandayan-dangerous-officials-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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