Red alert as massive volcano threatens eruption

Authorities are preparing for the possible evacuation of villagers living close to one of Indonesia’s deadliest volcanos after warning that the rumbling mountain could blow its top anytime.

Increased activity at Mount Merapi on Java Island prompted volcanologists last week to raise its status to “Beware”, one notch below the highest level that requires immediate evacuation of the thousands of villagers who farm its fertile slopes.

“We are on alert so that if Merapi is about to erupt we can arrange the evacuation of villagers,” said government volcanologist Heru Suparwoko, adding local officials were preparing dozens of trucks and stocking up on medicines to be used at temporary shelters.

Suparwoko was speaking from an observation station overlooking the 2,968-metre mountain.

The volcano’s crater was covered in mist today, but it has been spewing stones and smoke in recent weeks, and sensors in its crater have picked up dozens of seismic movements indicating an eruption could be brewing.

Merapi is one of the most active of at least 129 volcanoes in Indonesia. The country is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – a series of volcanoes and fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

Merapi’s last major eruption was in 1994, killing at least 43 people.