Volcano obscured by emission

Volcano obscured by emission

SEMARANG: A thick cloud blanketing Mt. Merapi since Thursday
is causing poor visibility and hampering the work of officials at
observation posts.

Antara yesterday quoted Sunarto at the Kaliurang observation
post as saying that activities of Indonesia's most active volcano
could not be monitored visually because the cloud is obscuring
the top of the volcano.

"Lava is still streaming down the volcano, but we can only
hear it, and we can't estimate how far down it goes," he said.

Data from the Directorate of Volcanology in Yogyakarta said
that a thick white sulfuric cloud was discharged from the crater
on Thursday with a maximum height of 460 meters.

The authorities declared the volcano's status on Oct. 24 as
"alert", the highest warning level, and evacuated hundreds of
residents living in the most vulnerable areas. On Nov. 4,
following two days of significant decline in volcanic activity,
the status was reduced to "preparedness". (swe)