Officials warn of spewing Merapi
Officials warn of spewing Merapi
The Volcanology Development and Investigation Agency in
Yogyakarta warned the people in the area to stay alert with
regard to Mount Merapi which often becomes more active during the
rainy season.
"The heavy downpours over the last few days could throw up a
lot of hot lava and steam and could place local people in harm's
way," A. Ratdomopurbo, chief of the Volcanology Development and
Investigation Agency, told The Jakarta Post from his observation
post in Babakan, Magelang, Central Java, on Tuesday.
Ratdomopurbo said the volcano had spewed hot lava and steam
twice recently, on Feb. 6 and Feb. 11 from a new crater which
opened up last year.
"But the lava and steam is not as dangerous as the previous
eruption which occurred in 1994," he said, in which dozens of
residents of Turgo Village in Sleman, Yogyakarta, were killed.
He said the mountain's increased activity could be detected by
the seismographic equipment installed in the observation post and
through the NOAA satellite image.
"According to our observation, the lava that came out of the
volcano's southwest direction and ended up in the Rivers Sat,
Bebeng and Senowo in Central Java was caused by the heavy
downpour that caused an outflow from its new crater," he said,
adding that the lava spewage could be unpredictable.
Ratdomopurbo said the actual condition in the new crater could
not be observed visually because of bad weather and the thick
clouds covering the peak.
"The lava could cause a disaster to villagers near its slope
if the land around the crater slides abruptly, pouring in hot
lava to sweep every thing it goes through," he said.
He said the new crater contained around 4,000,000 cubic meters
hot lava and was quite unstable.
"Whether the unstable crater will slide or not depends much on
the rain which could cause pressure inside the crater that could
erupt anytime," he said.
He said his office would continue to monitor closely the
mountain's activities and would issue a preliminary warning to
minimize victims as much as possible if the new crater becomes
dangerous to population areas.