Mt. Anak Krakatau erupts, people told to stay away

JAKARTA (JP): Mount Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, about 300 kilometers west of here, has been spewing volcanic ash and rocks for the past few days, an official said yesterday.

Gede Suantika of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the 200-meter volcano's activity began to subside at 2 p.m. yesterday but advised that people should stay away.

Anak Krakatau, or Krakatau's Child, was formed beneath the Sunda Strait in 1927 on the same fault line as mount Krakatau, which erupted in 1883 creating tidal waves that killed most of the 36,000 people that died in the eruption.

Suantika said mount Anak Krakatau was now silent but could spew volcanic ash and rocks anytime. It had been throwing hot ash high into the air, he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the local authorities had issued warnings to visitors and fishermen, telling them not to land at Anak Krakatau or come within a five-kilometer radius of it.

There have been no reports of casualties from the latest volcanic activity.

Suantika said that directly monitoring activity was difficult because equipment had been damaged. Nevertheless, observation posts in West Java's Pasauran, 55 kilometers east of Anak Krakatau, and in Lampung's Kalianda were maintaining a 24-hour watch, he said.

R. Sukhyar, chief of volcanic analysis at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, was quoted by Antara as saying that Anak Krakatau had gushed burning lava several hundred meters into the air.

Ash and rocks landed on the mountain's slopes and in the sea.

"Many foreign tourists braved the danger and came too close to the volcano to observe the flashes of fire. We warned that a five kilometer radius was off limits," he said.

Sukhyar said the latest eruptions were "minor" although they could be heard at night in Merak, Labuhanratu, Pandeglang and other nearby towns.

The eruptions did not affect traffic in the busy strait. The authorities advised people to remain vigilant for major eruptions that might trigger tidal waves.

Meteorology and geophysics officials have warned that the current level of activity may continue for months, or even years.

In 1995, activity at Krakatau prompted the authorities to put the volcano off limits to tourists and climbers for several months.

Anak Krakatau erupted on June 13, 1993, leaving an American tourist dead and three Britons and two Indonesians injured. Major eruptions also occurred there in 1952 and 1972.

Indonesia has the world's highest density of volcanoes, numbering 500 in the Ring of Fire along the 5,000-kilometer archipelago. One hundred and twenty-eight are active and 65 are listed as dangerous. (01)