Mount Merapi Volcano Spews Hot Clouds, Volcanic Debris
Mount Merapi was still on high alert Monday as the volcano in Indonesia’s densely populated Central Java continued to spew hot clouds of gas and debris down its slopes, officials said.
Scientists at Yogyakarta’s nearby Volcanological and Technology Development Centre said Merapi continued to belch hot clouds of gas and volcanic materials as far as three kilometres down its slopes, mostly toward Gendol and Krasak rivers.
Volcanologists issued a recommendation that residents living within a radius of eight kilometres of Merapi’s crater remain at makeshift evacuation shelters, and warned residents within 300 metres of the Krasak and Gendol riverbanks should stay away because of Merapi’s lingering threat.
Two men who sought shelter in an emergency bunker were found dead on Friday from burns caused by the intense heat of the volcano’s eruptions. The two died in Kaliadem village when Merapi released a burning cloud of gas and ash - known by locals as “shaggy goats” - and a flow of lava.
The hot clouds of gas and volcanic materials from Merapi volcano also destroyed and covered the Kaliadem tourist resort area with up to three metres of debris, and burned hundreds of hectares of forest.
A maximum alert was reinstated just before the eruption and evacuations for about 15,000 villagers resumed on June 14, only about 24 hours after downgrading the volcano’s top alert status.
Meanwhile, residents living in seven villages on Merapi’s slopes are complaining of difficulties getting clean water, and that cattle were also suffering due to water shortages, the state-run Antara news agency reported.
In addition, with the volcano showing no signs of cooling down, residents living on Mount Merapi’s slopes have been unable to conduct their daily activities, forcing many to sell their livestock to raise money.
Many residents who earn their living as traders in the Kaliadem tourist resort area were also facing economic losses after the area was buried by the eruption.
Volcanologsists have said a new lava dome has reformed at the peak of Merapi soon after the volcano belched searing clouds of ash and steam on Wednesday night last week.
While the formation of a new lava dome would help reduce the quantity of hot gas and lava sparks emitted, volcanologists warned searing clouds of ash and steam “still pose a serious threat to residents living on Merapi’s slopes.”
Mount Merapi, about 450 kilometres south-east of Jakarta, is one of 65 volcanoes listed as dangerous in Indonesia. Its most deadly eruption took place in 1930 when 1,370 people were killed. At least 66 people were killed in a November 1994 eruption.