Mount Merapi erupts, but nearby residents unmoved
Mount Merapi erupts, but nearby residents unmoved
MAGELANG, Central Java (JP): The 2,968-meter high Mount Merapi
erupted at dawn on Saturday and continued spewing hot clouds of
steam and fine ash throughout the day, but residents were
undeterred despite the high alert warning announced by the
government.
The latest discharge of hot cloud took place from 3 p.m. to 6
p.m.
Antonius Ratdomo Purbo, head of the Section of Volcanic
Technology and Methodology Development at the Yogyakarta-based
Volcanic Technology and Research Development Station (BPPTK),
said the change in the volcano's alert status to Awas Merapi
(Beware Merapi) should be followed by the evacuation of residents
living in areas considered at risk.
According to Ratdomo, the hot clouds spurted by the volcano
reached a distance of 6.5 kilometers along Kalisat River, six
kilometers along Bebeng River, 4.5 kilometers along Lamat River
and two kilometers along Senowo River.
Merapi is located between the regency of Magelang in Central
Java and Yogyakarta.
Ratdomo said that more than 16,000 people living in several
villages on the southwestern slope of the volcano in the
districts of Srumbung and Dukun, Magelang regency, should have
moved to safer ground. "There is no change in the form of the
volcano's lava dome, therefore the southwestern slope is still
the most dangerous area."
Soon after the eruption, district officials looked busy
preparing for the possible evacuation of Merapi residents, while
the residents, on the contrary, performed their daily task as
usual.
Reports said almost 600 people of the Sumberrejo and Kaliurang
Utara villages in Srumbung district sought refuge following the
early morning eruption.
"But they returned to their homes in the afternoon, braving
further eruptions," Dul Kamid, chief of the Srumbung district
neighborhood security, told The Jakarta Post.
"Only elderly people remain at the refugee site at the
Kaliurang village hall," Dul Kamid added.
Another resident of Tunggul Arum village on the southwestern
slope said, "This morning we were about to leave but we are no
longer afraid after realizing that the eruption was not followed
by a thundering sound or a flash of lightning." He was
interviewed while working in his rice field with his wife.
He said that the latest eruption was not as serious as the
locals believed. "Dangerous eruptions are always followed by a
thundering sound and a flash of lightning."
Sarwadi, head of Dukun district, said that at least 50
residents of Sumber village, which is situated along Lamat River,
had left their homes early in the morning.
"But they have just returned home, believing that the volcanic
activity is slowing down," Sarwadi said.
He, however, said that at least 15 trucks had been made
available for those who wanted to leave their homes.
Burning forest
The hot clouds, which experts say reached more than 1,000
degrees Celsius, burned some trees in the Kandang Menjangan
forest on the southwestern slope.
Fine volcanic ash reached several regencies on the eastern
side of the volcano such as Wonogiri, Surakarta, Klaten and
Sukoharjo, while only finer ash fell on Yogyakarta city.
"The thickest ash fell in the Deles area, Klaten regency,
around four kilometers east of the volcano," Sarwadi said.
The hot clouds forced hundreds of sand miners, known for their
stubbornness, to quit their mining sites and remove their heavy
equipment to avoid danger.
Meanwhile, the Central Java administration has prepared at
least 15,000 gas masks to be distributed to residents.
The masks are meant to protect people from inhaling ash and
dust from the volcano, said Soetrisno, City Hall spokesman. "All
hospitals and public health centers are on alert, and ambulances
and first aid medicines have been made available."
He also said that temporary refugee sites, with temporary
sanitation systems, had also been made ready. (44/har/sur)