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YOGYAKARTA - After days of persuasion, more than 100 villagers, most of them sick, aging, very young or pregnant, evacuated villages closest to Indonesia's rumbling Mount Merapi. The group left on trucks for temporary shelters well away from the 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) mountain on Java island, which has been increasingly active in recent days.
Some officials have warned that the volcano could erupt in the next one to two weeks. Many of the 120 people who left their homes Friday said they were doing so reluctantly and hundreds more refused, pledging to hold out a little longer. "I'm worried about what life will be like in a temporary shelter," said 44-year-old Sriyanti, as she headed with her young daughter to Tanjung Muntilan, a village 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Merapi.
Indonesia sits astride the "Ring of Fire," a series of volcanoes and fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia to New Zealand . It has more active volcanoes than any other nation. Merapi last erupted in 1994, sending out a searing cloud of gas that burned 60 people to death. About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930, reports the AP.
The current area at risk from a possible eruption of Gunung Merapi is marked here. Evacuations on the slopes of the volcano are taking place at this moment.
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Merapi's activity climbs in wake of quake
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
A volcanologist warned Monday that Mt. Merapi's activity level had tripled in the wake of Saturday's catastrophic earthquake in Yogyakarta and Central Java.
A. Ratdomopurbo said an eruption was still possible following the quake -- measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale according to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency -- after the volcano expelled more hot clouds of ash and gas which reached farther distances.
"The quake in Bantul clearly affected Merapi's activities. Since the quake, the volcano has discharged hot clouds three times more than usual," the chief of the Yogyakarta-based Volcanological Research and Technology Development Center told The Jakarta Post.
The volcano, which has been rumbling and spewing smoke and lava for weeks, only expelled 45 hot clouds Friday, but the number rose to 54 on Saturday and then jumped to 159 on Sunday.
"The increase might have happened because the lava dome was shaken, opening up a new way for the hot clouds (to be released)," Ratdomopurbo said.
International volcanology experts were divided about whether the earthquake and the volcano's heightened activity were related.
Chew Soon Hoe, an associate professor of engineering geology at the National University of Singapore, said Merapi's renewed activity and the earthquake are related. Both are in the same subduction zone -- the area where one tectonic plate slides under another plate -- along a boundary between the Euro-Asia plate and the India-Australia plate, he told AP.
"This ocean plate ... is the cause of the recent earthquake and volcanic activity in Indonesia," Chew said. "Because it is very near, the energy released by the quake will accelerate or perturb the activity of the volcano."
David Booth, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, disagreed, saying the quake would not necessarily cause the volcano to erupt. He said the plates that shifted to cause the earthquake did not necessarily open cracks in the surface that would be needed to cause a volcanic eruption.
"Volcanoes are all about creating pathways for the magma to move up to the surface," Booth said in a telephone interview. "It's like a lemonade bottle having been shaken. There is enormous pressure there. But if there isn't a pathway to the surface, then the pressure will stay contained."
Ratdomopurbo said the clouds also were heading in a new direction, from the usual route toward Magelang city in Central Java to Gendol riverbank in Cangkringan, Sleman regency.
"The new direction of the hot clouds is the latest development in Merapi's activity," he said.
The clouds also reached a farther distance of four kilometers down the slope from recent days. It was similar to the distance of the first hot cloud recorded on May 15.
The increased activity, he added, also was marked by a higher number of tremors, from 29 recorded a day before the quake to 237 on Sunday. On Monday, in the period from midnight to 6 a.m., over 85 tremors had been recorded at the mountain.
Ratdomopurbo was unsure of the impact of Saturday's quake on the volcano's two lava cauldrons -- one located at 1.5 kilometers deep and the other 6 kilometers deep.
"We can't detect it because they are located deep under the surface. What we can observe is the increase in activity of its hot clouds," Ratdomopurbo said.
He predicted it would expel bigger hot clouds, with the greatest danger posed by an eruption due to high temperatures and toxic gases. The clouds -- which can reach temperatures of 1,000 degree Celsius at the crater and 400 degrees Celsius by the time they reach communities on the volcano's slopes -- killed 50 people during a 1994 eruption.
Sukamto, a resident of Senolewah village located some 6.5 kilometers from the crater, said hot clouds were more frequently seen and larger than usual as they headed south in the direction of the town of Sleman.
"All this time, the hot clouds never headed south. Now, they are bigger and darker," he said.
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Merapi's activity climbs in wake of quake
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
A volcanologist warned Monday that Mt. Merapi's activity level had tripled in the wake of Saturday's catastrophic earthquake in Yogyakarta and Central Java.
A. Ratdomopurbo said an eruption was still possible following the quake -- measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale according to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency -- after the volcano expelled more hot clouds of ash and gas which reached farther distances.
"The quake in Bantul clearly affected Merapi's activities. Since the quake, the volcano has discharged hot clouds three times more than usual," the chief of the Yogyakarta-based Volcanological Research and Technology Development Center told The Jakarta Post.
The volcano, which has been rumbling and spewing smoke and lava for weeks, only expelled 45 hot clouds Friday, but the number rose to 54 on Saturday and then jumped to 159 on Sunday.
"The increase might have happened because the lava dome was shaken, opening up a new way for the hot clouds (to be released)," Ratdomopurbo said.
International volcanology experts were divided about whether the earthquake and the volcano's heightened activity were related.
Chew Soon Hoe, an associate professor of engineering geology at the National University of Singapore, said Merapi's renewed activity and the earthquake are related. Both are in the same subduction zone -- the area where one tectonic plate slides under another plate -- along a boundary between the Euro-Asia plate and the India-Australia plate, he told AP.
"This ocean plate ... is the cause of the recent earthquake and volcanic activity in Indonesia," Chew said. "Because it is very near, the energy released by the quake will accelerate or perturb the activity of the volcano."
David Booth, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, disagreed, saying the quake would not necessarily cause the volcano to erupt. He said the plates that shifted to cause the earthquake did not necessarily open cracks in the surface that would be needed to cause a volcanic eruption.
"Volcanoes are all about creating pathways for the magma to move up to the surface," Booth said in a telephone interview. "It's like a lemonade bottle having been shaken. There is enormous pressure there. But if there isn't a pathway to the surface, then the pressure will stay contained."
Ratdomopurbo said the clouds also were heading in a new direction, from the usual route toward Magelang city in Central Java to Gendol riverbank in Cangkringan, Sleman regency.
"The new direction of the hot clouds is the latest development in Merapi's activity," he said.
The clouds also reached a farther distance of four kilometers down the slope from recent days. It was similar to the distance of the first hot cloud recorded on May 15.
The increased activity, he added, also was marked by a higher number of tremors, from 29 recorded a day before the quake to 237 on Sunday. On Monday, in the period from midnight to 6 a.m., over 85 tremors had been recorded at the mountain.
Ratdomopurbo was unsure of the impact of Saturday's quake on the volcano's two lava cauldrons -- one located at 1.5 kilometers deep and the other 6 kilometers deep.
"We can't detect it because they are located deep under the surface. What we can observe is the increase in activity of its hot clouds," Ratdomopurbo said.
He predicted it would expel bigger hot clouds, with the greatest danger posed by an eruption due to high temperatures and toxic gases. The clouds -- which can reach temperatures of 1,000 degree Celsius at the crater and 400 degrees Celsius by the time they reach communities on the volcano's slopes -- killed 50 people during a 1994 eruption.
Sukamto, a resident of Senolewah village located some 6.5 kilometers from the crater, said hot clouds were more frequently seen and larger than usual as they headed south in the direction of the town of Sleman.
"All this time, the hot clouds never headed south. Now, they are bigger and darker," he said.
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Merapi's activity climbs in wake of quake
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
A volcanologist warned Monday that Mt. Merapi's activity level had tripled in the wake of Saturday's catastrophic earthquake in Yogyakarta and Central Java.
A. Ratdomopurbo said an eruption was still possible following the quake -- measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale according to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency -- after the volcano expelled more hot clouds of ash and gas which reached farther distances.
"The quake in Bantul clearly affected Merapi's activities. Since the quake, the volcano has discharged hot clouds three times more than usual," the chief of the Yogyakarta-based Volcanological Research and Technology Development Center told The Jakarta Post.
The volcano, which has been rumbling and spewing smoke and lava for weeks, only expelled 45 hot clouds Friday, but the number rose to 54 on Saturday and then jumped to 159 on Sunday.
"The increase might have happened because the lava dome was shaken, opening up a new way for the hot clouds (to be released)," Ratdomopurbo said.
International volcanology experts were divided about whether the earthquake and the volcano's heightened activity were related.
Chew Soon Hoe, an associate professor of engineering geology at the National University of Singapore, said Merapi's renewed activity and the earthquake are related. Both are in the same subduction zone -- the area where one tectonic plate slides under another plate -- along a boundary between the Euro-Asia plate and the India-Australia plate, he told AP.
"This ocean plate ... is the cause of the recent earthquake and volcanic activity in Indonesia," Chew said. "Because it is very near, the energy released by the quake will accelerate or perturb the activity of the volcano."
David Booth, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, disagreed, saying the quake would not necessarily cause the volcano to erupt. He said the plates that shifted to cause the earthquake did not necessarily open cracks in the surface that would be needed to cause a volcanic eruption.
"Volcanoes are all about creating pathways for the magma to move up to the surface," Booth said in a telephone interview. "It's like a lemonade bottle having been shaken. There is enormous pressure there. But if there isn't a pathway to the surface, then the pressure will stay contained."
Ratdomopurbo said the clouds also were heading in a new direction, from the usual route toward Magelang city in Central Java to Gendol riverbank in Cangkringan, Sleman regency.
"The new direction of the hot clouds is the latest development in Merapi's activity," he said.
The clouds also reached a farther distance of four kilometers down the slope from recent days. It was similar to the distance of the first hot cloud recorded on May 15.
The increased activity, he added, also was marked by a higher number of tremors, from 29 recorded a day before the quake to 237 on Sunday. On Monday, in the period from midnight to 6 a.m., over 85 tremors had been recorded at the mountain.
Ratdomopurbo was unsure of the impact of Saturday's quake on the volcano's two lava cauldrons -- one located at 1.5 kilometers deep and the other 6 kilometers deep.
"We can't detect it because they are located deep under the surface. What we can observe is the increase in activity of its hot clouds," Ratdomopurbo said.
He predicted it would expel bigger hot clouds, with the greatest danger posed by an eruption due to high temperatures and toxic gases. The clouds -- which can reach temperatures of 1,000 degree Celsius at the crater and 400 degrees Celsius by the time they reach communities on the volcano's slopes -- killed 50 people during a 1994 eruption.
Sukamto, a resident of Senolewah village located some 6.5 kilometers from the crater, said hot clouds were more frequently seen and larger than usual as they headed south in the direction of the town of Sleman.
"All this time, the hot clouds never headed south. Now, they are bigger and darker," he said.
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Albert, can you please not do only newsdumps? It will be in the news section on the website as well, and now there isn't anything to talk about. 
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Albert, can you please not do only newsdumps? It will be in the news section on the website as well, and now there isn't anything to talk about.
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Albert, can you please not do only newsdumps? It will be in the news section on the website as well, and now there isn't anything to talk about.
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