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Scientist: Dome shape of Mt Merapi changing quickly

08 May 2006, YOGYAKARTA - A new dome at the peak of Indonesia's simmering Mount Merapi was changing quickly Monday and more ominous lava oozed down its slopes but residents were not ordered to evacuate, a scientist said. "Although the morphology of the new dome is changing at a relatively fast pace, my superior has not yet seen the need to raise Merapi's alert status to its highest level," said Triyani from the volcanology office in Yogyakarta, 30 kilometers south of the volcano.

Merapi, which towers over a fertile Central Java plain and provides livelihoods for thousands of people living around its slopes, was put on "standby" alert status more than three weeks ago. If boosted to its highest level, residents face mandatory evacuation. Triyani said that 67 more lava flows were recorded flowing from the new dome at the peak of the 2,914-meter (9,560-foot) volcano since Sunday night.

"We are still in the process of studying all scientific data that we have obtained before we can decide whether or not the alert status should be upgraded," Triyani told AFP. More than 5,000 people have fled their homes around the volcano so far but many return to work near their homes during daylight hours. The new dome has been forming on Merapi for more than a week, signalling that the eruption would involve an outflow of lava and deadly heat clouds rather than a massive explosion, scientists have said.

More lava trails spewed from the peak of Indonesia's simmering Mount Merapi in a further sign of an impending eruption.