Dieng volcano heats up, villagers put on top alert

Dieng volcano heats up, villagers put on top alert

Agencies, Jakarta

Government authorities in the crowded province of Central Java have put residents living near the Dieng volcano on top alert for a possible major eruption, local officials said on Wednesday.

The "Sileri crater," one of several active craters on the Dieng mountain range, has witnessed increased activity over the past several days, belching hot lava containing sulfur onto nearby areas, said Sagiyo, an official of Banjarnegara regency.

He told Deutsche Presse-Agentur by telephone that villagers living in a one kilometer radius of the crater, "have to stay on alert for a possible major eruption or poisonous gas from the Sileri crater".

Residents and tourists are banned from approaching the Sileri crater at the Dieng volcano complex.

"For the time being, the Sileri crater is closed to tourists," said Supriyatno, spokesman of the Banjarnegara administration office.

He added that local government authorities had upgraded Dieng's status to a "top alert."

Supriyatno said the last eruption was 19 years ago. "Such a thing normally occurs once in 20 years," he told AFP.

However, he said no evacuation had been ordered as yet, even though hectares of potatoes and other vegetable plantations in a radius of 100 meters from the crater had already been heavily damaged.

There are several active craters in Dieng's mountainous area. In 1979, poisonous gas erupted from the nearby Sinila crater, killing more than 80 people and injuring many others.

Indonesia has the world's highest density of volcanoes with 500 located in the "Belt of Fire" along the 6,200-kilometer archipelago. Of these, 128 are active and 65 listed as dangerous.