Merapi May Erupt Between 7 To 10 Days
The Mount Merapi which has been placed under an alert status since April 12, is estimated to erupt within the next seven to 10 days, Indonesia news agency Antara reported Tuesday, quoting Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X as saying.
“Therefore, I ask the Sleman district administration to soon evacuate the people living in villagers areas, close to Mount Merapi to lessen the risk of casualties,” he said in a coordination meeting here with Sleman district and provincial administration officials related with the growing volcanic activity of the mountain.
The report quoted him as asking the Sleman administration to prioritize the evacuation of residents in ten villages namely Kinahrejo, Palemsari, Kalitengah, Kaliadem, Ngangkrah, Tritis, Turgo, Boyong, Tunggul Arum and Ngandong because they are prone to the eruption.
The governor who also asked residents of Cengkringan subdistrict to abandon their homes earlier, said: “The sooner they leave their homes the better is”.
He said the evacuation will be too late if it is carried out at the time of the watch out status of 2,914 metre high.
Mount Merapi marked by heightened activities over the past few days, spewing dust from its crater and occasionally sending out streams of lava.
The volcanic materials certainly move more rapidly than the people’s movement, old people in particular, he said.
The residents of the subdistrict had no experience to face the disaster though the subdistrict located five kilometres away from the mountain’s peal.
Mount Merapi sits astride the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta.
Meanwhile, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology Technology Development and Research Centre (BPPTK) Ratdomopurbo said based on previous experiences, the volcano’s increased activity will usually be followed by an explosion.
“We have been observing that the current condition of Mount Merapi is a pre-eruption phenomena,” the news report quoted him as saying.
In March 2006, BPPTK declared the status of Mount Merapi from normal active to caution.
On Wednesday (April 12, 2006), the status was changed into on alert, just one step before the highest status prior to eruption, namely watch out/beware of Merapi.
However, he could not give exact date when the mount would erupt since its volcanic activities were varied.
May 15th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
I was planning to visit Borobudur temple and Prambanana temple in May 24, 2006. Can you tell me if tourism has been canceled for that area? Is it safe to travel to that area?
Thank you,
Nuri Guerra