Indonesia evacuates areas near volcano

Tue, 26 Oct 2010

Jakarta - Indonesian authorities on Tuesday began evacuating residents near Mount Merapi on Java island after upgrading the volcano's alert status to its highest level.

Tents, blankets and plastic sheeting were distributed to dozens of evacuation points around Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces, said Arief Setyo Hadi, an official with the Indonesian Red Cross.

"Residents are on standby and ready to flee when they feel it's necessary," he said.

About 300 children and elderly people were moved to two of the 52 shelters prepared by the government in Magelang district, Hadi said.

Volcanologists upgraded the alert status to red Monday after the lava flow extended about 4 kilometers south and west from the crater.

An official at a disaster relief post in Yogyakarta said 137 tremors were detected from the volcano Monday night.

Officials estimated up to 40,000 people were living in the endangered areas.

The 3,000-meter volcano last erupted in 2006, killing two people.

Its most deadly eruption on record occurred in 1930 when 1,370 people were killed.

At least 66 people were killed in a 1994 eruption, mostly from the outpouring of superheated hot ash and other volcanic materials.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350391,indonesia-evacuates-areas-volcano.html.