Several Indonesian Volcano's Spit Lava, Dark Ash
Pastor Dale Morgan
Several Indonesian Volcano's Spit Lava, Dark Ash*
By IRWAN FIRDAUS
The Associated Press
Monday, November 5, 2007; 1:14 PM
MOUNT KELUD, Indonesia -- Several Indonesian volcano's spewed hot ash,
molten rock and clouds of dark smoke Monday, and scientists warned a
violent eruption could come at any moment.
The most threatening was the deadly Mount Kelud on densely populated
Java island, where a dome of magma was forming under a crater lake and
soaring temperatures overheated monitoring equipment.
A few hundred miles away, Anak Krakatao, or the "Child of Krakatoa" in
English, fired pumice and lava onto its slopes.
At least one other of Indonesia's approximately 100 active volcanoes
sent bursts of ash showering down on nearby villages.
Experts said there was no connection between the heightened activity at
the different volcanos along the tropical archipelago.
Authorities monitoring the peaks were most concerned about Kelud because
of its deadly history, including a 1919 explosion that killed thousands.
The temperature of the crater lake on Mount Kelud was so great that
nearby monitoring equipment stopped working, said Surono, one of 16
volcanologists watching over the peak 24 hours a day. Like many
Indonesians, he uses only one name.
Despite the threat, there was little sense of panic on Kelud's slopes,
witnesses said.
While several thousand people have fled to government shelters,
authorities said Sunday that around 25,000 others were ignoring
evacuation orders and remained in the danger zone around Kelud.
Officials have made no attempts to prevent people from traveling inside
a six-mile zone around the peak that the local government says is
off-limits.
"I feel it is OK to stay here," said Sukirno, who was tending papaya
plants four miles from the peak. "No one can guarantee our safety apart
from ourselves."
Kelud has been on the highest alert level for more than two weeks. But
since Friday, scientists have been warning an eruption was imminent
based on the frequency of tremors shaking and its intense heat.
In 1990, Mount Kelud spat out red-hot gases, mud and lava that killed
more than 30 people and injured hundreds. In 1919, a powerful explosion
that reportedly could be heard hundreds of miles away killed at least 5,160.
"If it goes this time, it will be much larger than in 1990," said
Surono, basing his prediction on the number of tremors and the lake
temperature _ both of which have been much higher than in the days
preceding the earlier blast.
The team monitoring the volcano has also said an eruption may be small
or gradual _ or might not happen at all given the unpredictable nature
of the 5,679-foot mountain.
Images of Mt. Kelud's crater lake showed a dome had formed, but thick
steam made it difficult to estimate its size, volcanologist Umar Rosadi
said.
Around 40 miles southeast of Kelud, Mount Semeru was also putting on a
display, sending out clouds high into the air that coated buildings in
nearby villages and the town of Blitar with a fine layer of ash,
witnesses said.
Ash rain from Semeru is common in the town, and Rosadi said people had
no need to worry. No evacuations were ordered.
Anak Krakatoa was formed off the northern tip of Java island after a
massive eruption at the giant Krakatoa volcano in 1883. That blast was
heard nearly 2,000 miles away in Australia and sent surges of gas and
burning ash which, combined with a tsunami, killed at least 36,000 people.
Indonesia is spread across 17,500 islands and is prone to volcanic
eruptions and earthquakes because of its location within the so-called
"Ring of Fire" _ a series of fault lines stretching from the Western
Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.