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Volcano 'ready to blow'
02/11/2007 07:32 - (SA)
Mount Kelud, Indonesia - Scientists said tremors rocking a deadly Indonesian volcano on Friday were signs a powerful eruption could be imminent, while some nearby villagers were staying put hoping that if they kept quiet the mountain would not blow.
The intensity and frequency of the tremors at Mount Kelud already exceed those in the days preceding the last time it blew its top in 1990, indicating an underground reservoir of magma is poised to break the surface of a lake at its crater.
"The activity of volcanic tremor is increasing, but the eruption has not happened yet," said Umar Rosadi, part of a team of 16 scientists monitoring the peak in the heart of densely populated Java island. "It is strange, but that is the nature of the volcano."
More than 100 000 people living in areas considered to be at risk were ordered from their homes when the peak was put at its highest alert level more than two weeks ago, but most never left or have since returned to their homes, officials say.
Some of those who stayed behind were asked to sign a statement saying they would not seek compensation funds if they were injured or lost family members due to an eruption, said local community leader chief Susiadi, who goes by a single name.
Villager Sugeng Ruwanto said many of his fellow villagers believed a local myth stating that if they stayed at home without switching indoor lights on or speaking in a loud voice then the mountain would not erupt.
Along with hundreds of other people, Ruwanto remained in Anyar village, some five kilometres from the crater of Kelud.
In 1990, Mount Kelud killed more than 30 people and injured hundreds. In 1919, a massive explosion at Kelud that could be heard hundreds of kilometres away destroyed dozens of villages and killed at least 5 160.
Scientists fear that if the magma hits the water inside the crater lake, a giant explosion could occur, sending water, mud and ash careering down the side of the 1 731m mountain.
Indonesia has around 100 active volcanoes, more than any nation.
The country is spread across 17 500 islands and is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the so-called "Ring of Fire" - a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
At any one time several of its volcanoes are spewing ash or lava or showing other signs of eruption, but scientists take no chances with Kelud because of its deadly history.
- AP
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