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Indonesia volcano alert lowered
13/06/2006 15:17 - (SA)
Yogyakarta - An Indonesian state agency monitoring Mount Merapi has lowered the volcano's alert status after emissions decreased in recent days,
officials at the vulcanology centre said on Tuesday.
Merapi in central Java, near the ancient royal city of
Yogyakarta, is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes
in the Pacific "Ring of Fire". It has threatened a major
eruption for weeks, forcing evacuation of about 18 000 people
from its slopes.
"Merapi's status was lowered from 'alert' to 'prepared' at
11:00," Triyani, a vulcanologist at the Centre for
Volcanological Research and Technology Department, told
Reuters.
Some residents who had refused to move were spurred into
action after an earthquake shook the Yogyakarta area on May 27,
killing more than 5 700 and intensifying volcanic activity.
But after spewing out massive gas clouds and fresh lava
flows late last week, Merapi has calmed down.
Experts feared that a lava dome, which has been building up
since April as a result of activity, could collapse, generating
clouds of gas and lava flows that could cause casualties.
But a partial degradation of the dome last week may have
relieved enough pressure to reduce that danger.
More than 60 people were killed when Merapi last erupted in
1994, while 1 300 people died in a 1930 eruption.
- Reuters
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