Watch Mt. Merapi

Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes located in the very heart of Java, is once again going through one of its periodic spasms. This time, though, it looks as if the danger might be for real.

On Saturday morning, the flow of hot lava and clouds which for days had awed thousands of tourists in nearby Yogyakarta during the night, began taking on a more ominous appearance, flowing down the mountain's slope for a distance of seven kilometers.

As clouds of steam and dust billowed from Merapi's crater some five kilometers high into the sky, volcanic ash began falling on towns, cities and villages in the surrounding area.

Although volcanologists stress that this is not yet officially an eruption, Merapi's warning signals nevertheless sent officials scurrying to prepare trucks and other equipment while ordering thousands of villagers to leave the mountainside, fearful of a repeat of the 1930 eruption in which at least 1,300 people perished.

But as in any disaster like a volcanic eruption, which can be expected to happen at any time now in the Merapi area, saving human lives is but one aspect of disaster relief.

Given these early warning signals and considering the relief problems that have plagued so many cases in this country in the past, there appears to be no excuse this time, should the relief efforts be bungled, as has happened elsewhere in this country so many times before.

Food, medication and shelter must be prepared in case the worst fears are realized. Clothing and any other relief material that donors may send to the area must get to those who need them.

The attachment of Java's rural population to the soil on which they live and work is well known. Past efforts to resettle people who live in the shadow of active volcanoes have not always been successful, as many of them tend to return to their native soil.

This, too, constitutes a problem that must be solved to the satisfaction of everyone concerned: while resettlement may not be an option, some kind of settlement which ensures the safety of the population needs to be found.

At present, considering the swift response of the authorities concerned, at least some good progress in this direction appears to have been made over the years. No doubt the lessons of past eruptions have been well learned.

An eruption of Mount Merapi on the scale of the 1930 one, or worse, could have severe consequences for some of Java's millions of inhabitants.

There is, however, one peculiar aspect in the case of Mount Merapi that the authorities and observers alike may well find worth observing.

The volcano is considered by many -- at least by thousands of locals living in the Yogyakarta area -- to be of special significance. The mountain is located in a straight line running from the Indian Ocean, which is the abode of the goddess of the "South Sea" (i.e. Indian Ocean) through the kraton (royal court) of Njai Roro Kidul and straight toward Merapi. As in Bali, the mountain and the sea hold a special significance for many people in the heartland of Java.

Many people in the area believe that Merapi's current activity is somehow related to the present political upheavals in this country and an eruption could be a forewarning of a culmination of the crisis.

Whether or not one personally believes in such a theory is of course beside the point. The important thing is that there are many people who do. Hopefully, though, this will not add to the complications already facing the nation.