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Indonesia Volcano Spews Hot Gas Clouds

Posted on: Thursday, 8 June 2006, 03:00 CDT

By ROBERT KENNEDY

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia - Indonesia's most dangerous volcano spewed a spectacular roiling cloud of hot gas and ash down its southern slope Thursday, sending more than 15,000 villagers running to safety or piling into cars and trucks, scientists said.

Mount Merapi has been venting steam and ash for weeks, but the Thursday morning burst was the largest yet, with billowing, dark gray clouds avalanching 3 1/2 miles down its slopes, said Sugiono, a vulcanologist who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

It was one of a series of powerful explosions early Thursday, but hundreds of villagers living on the mountainside were still refusing to leave.

"Of course, we're worried," a villager named Supriatun told The Associated Press by mobile phone. "But as long as the hot clouds do not reach us, we won't leave our village."

Some scientists say a powerful May 27 earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in an area 25 miles south of Mount Merapi may have contributed to the volcano's volatility in recent weeks.

The rumbling mountain's lava dome has swelled, raising concerns that it could suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of fast-moving gas, lava and rocks into areas yet to be evacuated.

"A lot of people are panicking," said Sutomo, a government official at the scene, adding that 3,500 people had fled Sleman district on Merapi's southern side, some clutching children as they ran and others heading to towns at the base in trucks or cars.

Another 12,000 fled their villages in Magelang district on the west side, many of them yelling and wiping away tears. Farmers carrying heaps of grass on their head ran down the mountain, as other clambered onto motorcycles.

Roads leading to the mountain's peak have been closed, said Sunarto, another government official who goes by one name.

Authorities had earlier urged residents to evacuate the danger zone on the mountain's fertile slopes. Some 20,000 left, but thousands more stayed in their homes, saying they didn't want to abandon their fields and livestock, and complaining of boredom at the shelters.

Others who have camped out for weeks in schools, mosques and government buildings said they would stay as long as necessary.

"A hot gas cloud is one of our worst nightmare," said Teguh Rahardjo, 64, recalling how a large eruption in 1994 killed 60 people and decimated houses, fields and animals. About 1,300 people were killed when Merapi erupted in 1930.

Indonesia is located in the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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