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Villagers in volcano's shadow
18/10/2007 12:33 - (SA)
Indra Harsaputra
Mount Kelud, Indonesia - Villagers tended crops and livestock in the shadow of one of Indonesia's most deadly volcanos on Thursday despite government orders to evacuate because of fears it may soon erupt.
Mount Kelud, which sits on the densely populated island of Java, about 620km east of the capital, Jakarta, last erupted in 1990, killing dozens. In 1919, a powerful explosion destroyed a hundred villages and killed 5 160 people.
Scientists said on Thursday they feared the longer the volcano takes to erupt this time the more dangerous it may become.
The latest readings "far exceed those preceding the 1990 eruption", government vulcanologist Surono said. "The energy sustained under its cone suggests this eruption should be bigger".
On Tuesday night, some 116 000 people were ordered to evacuate villages in the area. But on Thursday, thousands of villagers returned to their homes in high-risk areas where they washed clothes and played with their children.
In 1919, the pyroclastic and mud flows travelled 38km in less than an hour, devastating vast tracts of farmland. A drainage system, established by the Dutch in the 1920s, maintain low water levels in the crater lake aimed at reducing damage.
Maijem, 55, tended her pineapples in Sugihwaras village just eight kilometres below the crater lake with her 37-year-old daughter, Musriah.
"If I stayed at the refugee camps, I would not be able to make a living," Maijem said, "What would we eat then?"
At the same time, villagers from a neighbouring district left for camps on trucks loaded with furniture and clothes.
"We are really scared that Kelud will actually erupt," said Suyuni, 42.
- AP
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