Merapi activity still dangerous

SEMARANG: Although Mount Merapi has been listed as relatively "calm", the maximum alert level still applies for people living in villages within a six kilometer radius.

The directorate of volcanology in Yogyakarta described Merapi's activity yesterday as "uncertain" with the intensity of tremors sharply fluctuating.

Mas Atje Purbawinata, chief of the directorate's office in Yogyakarta, said the maximum danger level applied to residents living upstream of the Krasak, Bebeng and Boyong rivers which flow from Merapi.

Residents were advised to watch out for the mass of lava near the mountain top that could slide down during heavy rains, Antara reported.

The volcano, on the border of Yogyakarta and Central Java, sometimes spewed molten lava 1.5 kilometers in the direction of the three rivers, he said. (pan)