The Jakarta Post, 6/6/2006 1:10:46 PM
Merapi volcano spews more lava, hot gas
MT. MERAPI, Yogyakarta (AP): Lava and superheated clouds of gas poured
repeatedly down the upper slopes of Indonesia's Mt. Merapi on Tuesday, and officials
warned of danger to nearby villages.
The mountain's lava dome has swelled in recent weeks, raising fears that it could
suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of fast-moving gas and debris as far as
12 kilometers (eight miles)away, reaching well into populated areas.
"Of course it is dangerous. But we don't know for sure whether the lava dome will
collapse," Subandriyo, a government volcanologist, said on Tuesday.
Red-hot lava flowed as far as one kilometer from the mountain's crater, while gas
clouds called pyroclastic flows streamed as far as 2-1/2 kilometers (1-1/2 miles) down
its southwestern slope, Subandriyo said.
The 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) mountain is one of the world's most active volcanoes.
Activity has risen since a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on May 27 hit a region about 30
kilometers (20 miles) to the south, killing at least 5,857 people.
Some scientists say the quake may have been responsible for the increased activity
and might also have weakened its lava dome.
The government has ordered residents to evacuate from a danger zone along its fertile
slopes, but thousands of villagers remain in their homes, saying they don't want to
abandon their fields and livestock and complaining of boredom at the shelters.
The mountain, about 400 kilometers east of Jakarta, is notoriously unpredictable.
Government scientists say they're not sure whether the lava dome will suddenly
collapse, simply keep growing, or gradually break into small pieces.
Its last deadly eruption was in 1994, when it sent out a searing gas cloud that burned
60 people to death.
About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930. Indonesia is located on the
so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the
Pacific Basin. It has 76 volcanoes, the largest number in the world. (**)
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