Merapi activity still dangerous

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)