Posted 03 May 2006 @ 20:49
Updated 03 May 2006 @ 21:15
MAGELANG, 03 May 2006 - Residents of Sengi hamlet on the slope of Mt Merapi on Wednesday asked to be evacuated as they had heard rumbling sounds coming from the volcano's top. "They have been hearing the rumbling sounds since yesterday, an indication that Mount Merapi is to erupt," Tarno, Sengi hamlet head, said on Wednesday.
At least 73 of the 463 people living in Gowok Ringin village, about seven kilometers from dangerous volcano, have been evacuated to temporary shelters in Congkrang village. Of the 4,048 inhabitants of Sengi hamlet, 667 have been relocated. It is estimated that some 27,000 locals in three villages around the slopes could be affected by a Merapi eruption if they are not evacuated.
"The thunder-like sounds come at unpreditable moments, sometimes at noon, other times in the evening or at night," Tarno said. Volcanologists at Merapi`s nearby monitoring centre reminded villagers the danger of hot, poisonous clouds spewing from the volcano.
Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri has said Mt Merapi, which is located in the Central Java - Yogyakarta border area, might erupt before May 6, 2006 and therefore residents living on its slopes should immediately be evacuated to safer locations. "This is not a prediction, but a possibility. After studying the activities of the volcano, it appears that by May 6 an eruption may take place," she said here on Monday.
1 May 2006 - The volcano where it's all about. Gunung Merapi in the early morning. As usual the volcano is exhausting a cloud of smoke, but it's not much more than on a usual day. This doesn't mean that the volcano is back to sleep however, seismic movements inside the volcano are still recorded frequently.
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