Villagers evacuated amid fears of big volcanie eruption
Budianto, The Jakarta Post, Garut
More and more villagers living in the shadow of Mt. Papandayan in the West Java regency of Garut were evacuated to safer areas on Wednesday after authorities gave a warning that the mountain, currently spewing out dust, flaming stones and thick clouds high in the air, was on the verge of a major eruption.
All people in the regency, particularly those living near the mountain were asked to vacate their villages and no one was allowed to enter within a radius of one kilometer of its peak -- which is about 75 kilometers southeast of Bandung.
"The number of displaced people has increased from more than 1,000 to some 4,000," Wawan, a staff member at the Cisurupan subdistrict chief's office, said on Wednesday.
He said some of villagers would take refuge again on Wednesday after they went back to their home villages soon after a mudslide damaged 17 houses located on the banks of the Cibeureum River on Tuesday.
"They left their villages again after hearing of the danger posed by the volcano," he said.
The local forest rangers and the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) helped villagers leave their homes to safety areas.
Some 4,000 people were taking refuge in Cisurupan and Bayongbong subdistricts after learning that the once-dormant volcano began to reactivate from several new vents.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there had been several minor eruptions reported since it began on Tuesday
"The mountain's increasing activities are signals that it's going to make a major eruption sometime in the future," Surono, a senior staff of the Vulcanology Directorate, said here on Wednesday.
He said he could not predict precisely when a major eruption may occur. "Of the most importance, is that local people must be asked to remain alert to avoid any unwanted casualties," he said.
He said he had deployed four teams to monitor the mountain's activities and to make an analysis and evaluation to take preemptive measures before a major eruption.
Isya N. Dana, chief of vulcanology observation in Java and Sumatra, concurred and said that the prediction on the major eruption was based on the record of the volcano's increasing activity, which ranged from 130 seconds to 671 seconds on Wednesday.
He maintained that the 2,665-meter volcano which erupted last in 1972 was declared active again in 1993. "But, after that, the mountain showed no activity until it spewed out magma, dust and thick cloud on Tuesday.
"We will continue monitoring the volcano's activities until its activities decrease," he said.
Meanwhile, humanitarian relief from numerous agencies, including local governments, was flown in for some 4,000 villagers taking refuge in mosques, schools and village buildings both in Cisurupan and Bayongbong.
West Java Governor Nuriana handed over Rp 25 million (US$2,700) cash, four tons of rice, 3,000 boxes of instant noodles and cooking sets to the displaced villagers.