Mount Merapi rumble causes evacuation
JAKARTA (JP): Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, continued to spew burning ash and lava yesterday, prompting authorities to begin evacuating residents and close off tourist attractions, officials said.
Authorities have heightened the alert level for a possible major explosion. Residents living close to the 2,968-meter-high volcano were asked to be ready for evacuation, in case a major explosion was imminent.
Tourist attractions in Kaliurang, some six kilometers south of Merapi, have been closed to the public. Kaliurang was among the worst affected areas when the volcano last exploded in 1994.
Informed sources told The Jakarta Post that among venues closed were the Cangkringan golf course and Bebeng Kaliadem camping ground.
Residents of Turgo and Tritis villages were evacuated Wednesday night to Tarakanita school buildings in Pakembinagun. Local authorities in Sleman have readied emergency tents in anticipation of the worst.
Authorities in Sleman have also stopped sand quarrying in the Boyong River, which originates in Merapi, since Tuesday in anticipation of lava flood that may hit any time.
"All workers have been ordered to leave the river and trucks to evacuate until further notice," said an official in charge of natural disaster in Sleman.
In early 1996, a major cold lava flood pushed dozens of trucks into the river, naturally providing sand quarrying companies with abundant high grade sand. No one was injured.
Mas Atje Purbawinata, chief of a local volcano monitoring agency, said Merapi's level of activity was higher than that recorded in November 1994 when it erupted, killing 68 and forcing over 5,000 families to flee their homes.
The agency notified the Central Java and Yogyakarta governors and regents of Magelang, Klaten and Boyolali of the mount's alarming level of volcanic activity.
The volcano spewed hot "clouds" of ashes for five hours and vomited burning lava for as far as five kilometers down the slopes, Atje said.
Officials monitoring its activity recorded 33 seismic tremors yesterday afternoon and saw burning lava streaming down the mountain's southeast slope.
"The potential threat is greater than in 1994," Atje said. "We have asked our personnel to report on every development."
Adding to the fear of possible eruption is the potential for a massive landslide, due to heavy rains, of the cold lava that has accumulated on the upper part of the volcano since 1994.
The mountain, among the world's most active, covered areas in Boyolali with fine volcanic ashes, triggering panic in some subdistricts.
A spokesman for the Boyolali regency government, Sugiyanto, said the authorities managed to calm villagers down. People in the area said they were ready for evacuation at any moment, he added.
A crisis occurred in August last year when the mountain was extraordinarily active and nearby residents were placed on evacuation alert. However, this activity subsided.
The earliest recorded eruption of the mountain was in 1006, when it destroyed the Hindu Mataram kingdom. In 1930, 1,369 people were killed and 26 villages buried. (pan/har/23)