Asia-Pacific
Indonesia's Mount Merapi spews hot lava
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-07 20:09
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Hot gas and molten lava from Mount Merapi has forced the evacuation of thousands of people this week, officials said Wednesday, warning that a large eruption at Indonesia's most dangerous volcano was still possible.
 Villagers walk as Mount Merapi is seen in the background in Grogol village near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, June 7, 2006. The volcano's lava dome has swelled in recent weeks, raising fears that it could suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of fast-moving gas and debris into populated areas. [AP] |
The volcano's lava dome has swelled in recent weeks, raising concerns that it could suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of gas and debris into populated areas.
Some scientists say a powerful May 27 earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in area only 25 miles south of Merapi may have contributed to the increased activity at the volcano.
Subandriyo said the mountain appeared a little calmer than on Monday and Tuesday, but that it was still in a state of flux.
Puji Pujiono, leader of the United Nations disaster assessment and coordination team at the site, said 3,500 people living near the base were evacuated this week, many taken in trucks and cars to temporary shelters. Thousands living nearer to the peak had already been relocated.
Pujiono said a U.N. helicopter was to fly over the 9,800 foot peak later Wednesday, and that a status report would be filed later in the evening, but he did not think the mountain was any more dangerous than it was three weeks ago.
Merapi's last deadly eruption was in 1994, when it sent out a searing gas cloud that burned 60 people to death.
About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930.
Indonesia is located on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," a string of volcanoes and fault lines that encircle the Pacific Basin. It has 76 volcanoes, the largest number of any nation.
In southern Japan, meanwhile, Mount Sakurajima erupted Wednesday and sent a plume of smoke about 3,300 feet into the air, the country's Weather Agency said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The eruption registered as moderate on the agency's scale for both the sound and the strength of the tremors it caused.
There was no other significant change in volcanic activity, the bulletin said. "We do not believe that a large-scale eruption is imminent," said agency official Akira Otani.
Authorities in the area have received no immediate reports of damage or injuries, according to police official Shoichi Araki in Kagoshima, across the bay from the volcano. Ash has been falling in the city for several days, he added.
The 3,686-foot Sakurajima is one of the most active of Japan's 108 volcanoes. It sits in Kagoshima Bay, about 590 miles southwest of Tokyo.