 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Indonesias Mount Merapi Acts Up But No Eruption Yet
Jakarta (AFP) May 01, 2006 Volcanic rocks have tumbled down from the peak of Indonesia's rumbling Mount Merapi volcano but its "standby" status remains unchanged, a vulcanologist said Saturday. The avalanche of rocks created a thin layer of dust that fell on two hamlets located on the western slope of the 2,914-meter (9,560-foot) volcano Friday, said Dewi Sri from the vulcanology office in Yogyakarta. "It is not an ash rain caused by an emission of deadly hot clouds. The rocks were emitted by Merapi during its last eruption in 2001," Sri told AFP from the ancient royal town located 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) south of Merapi. Merapi has been on standby alert for more than two weeks, one level below that which would require a mandatory evacuation for more than 29,000 people living around its fertile slopes. Merapi's seismic and volcanic activities on Saturday "remains pretty much similar" to recent days, she said. Officials are monitoring the volcano round-the-clock. Scientists have warned that the volcano could erupt at any time and hundreds of residents have already been relocated to temporary shelters. Many people living on the slopes of the volcano have refused to evacuate their villages despite warnings and continue life as usual. Traditional beliefs hold that Merapi will only erupt after certain omens, some of which appear in dreams. Merapi, which has been rumbling intermittently over the past four years, looms above a plain located in the southern area of Central Java province. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" noted for its volcanic and seismic activity. The country has more than 100 active volcanoes.
Source: Agence France-Presse Related Links -
JAXA Satellite Watching Indonesian Volcano
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) May 1, 2006JAXA said Saturday it has deployed its Advanced Land Observing Satellite to monitor Mount Merapi, a volcano on the island of Java, in Indonesia, that is showing signs of erupting catastrophically. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
