Imminent eruption for Indonesian volcano*

JAKARTA, Oct 17 (AFP) Oct 16, 2007

Indonesia late Tuesday raised the status of a volcano on Java island to
the highest alert level and recommended people evacuate the area
immediately.

Officials have advised residents living within a 10-kilometre (6.2-mile)
radius of Mount Kelut to leave, with the Indonesian volcanology and
geology disaster management centre saying the highest alert level status
meant "an eruption is possible within 24 hours."

The agency said on its website it raised the alert level "based on the
seismic activity, deformation, visual observation and temperature of
crater lake... at 17.15 WIB, 16 October 2007."

Volcano monitoring post head Kristanto told a national television news
"three surrounding districts of Kediri, Blitar and Malang have been
instructed to clear the area of 10-kilometre radius from the crater
immediately."

Officials said that evacuation drills had been conducted in at least
nine villages near Mount Kelut in the past week.

An official at the volcanology office had warned that signs of an
imminent blow-out were much stronger this time than preceding an
eruption in 1990.

That was the last time the 1,731-metre (5,712-foot) volcano went off.

An estimated 15,000 people have been killed by the volcano in the last
500 years, including around 10,000 in a 1568 eruption.