The volcanic activity of Mount Merapi has continued to increase, forcing residents to flee the area near the volcano over fears of eruption. Mount Sinabung has also erupted again.
By
Kompas Team
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Ferganata Indra Riatmoko
Residents fled from Babadan 1 Hamlet, Paten Village, Dukun, Magelang, Central Java, on Tuesday (5/1/2021).
The volcanic activity of Mount Merapi has continued to increase, forcing residents to flee the area near the volcano over fears of eruption. Mount Sinabung has also erupted again.
YOGYAKARTA, KOMPAS — Mount Merapi, located on the border of Central Java and the Yogyakarta Special Region, continues to emit incandescent lava. The increase in the volcanic activity has forced the people living near the volcano to seek refuge on fears of a possible eruption.
As of Wednesday (6/1/2021), there were about 300 refugees in an evacuation site at the Banyurojo village, Mertoyudan district, Magelang, Central Java. The number is higher than that during the initial stage of evacuation in November 2020, at 286 people.
Of the 300 refugees, about 100 people consisted of non-vulnerable groups, mostly men and family heads. "Due to fears of eruptions, many residents who are not part of vulnerable groups also joined the evacuation," said Wahyudi, the refugee coordinator from Babadan I hamlet, Banyurojo village.
Initially, based on the guideline of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of Magelang regency, the residents who should be evacuated were only those categorized as vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, elderly people, sick people, and people with disabilities.
They also included those categorized as non-vulnerable groups.
Meanwhile, the number of refugees in the evacuation site in Glagaharjo village, Cangkringan district, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta also continued to increase. They also included those categorized as non-vulnerable groups.
Kompas/Ferganata Indra Riatmoko
Residents around Mount Merapi are getting ready to evacuate to Babadan 1 Hamlet, Paten Village, Dukun, Magelang, Central Java, on Tuesday (5/1/2021).
At the end of 2020, the number of the people occupied the evacuation site totaled 200 people. On Friday the number of the refugees reached a total of 328 people. "We don\'t want to take risks. The safety of the residents is the first priority in the Mount Merapi mitigation,” the head of Glagaharjo village, Suroto, said at Glagaharjo Village Hall.
Incandescent lava
The monitoring camera of the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) showed that on Tuesday night Mount Merapi released incandescent lava avalanches four times.
The first incandescent lava avalanche was observed at 6:47 p.m., then at 7:11 p.m., at 22:37 p.m. and at 11 p.m. Apart from the lava avalanche, on Tuesday night there was also a drop of ordinary materials.
Meanwhile, during a period between midnight and six o’clock on the morning of Wednesday, the avalanche of incandescent lava occurred twice with a small intensity and at a distance of 400 meters.
"Mount Merapi has entered the eruption phase. However, this is only the beginning. The magma extrusion (discharge) process will continue," the head of BPPTKG, Hanik Humaida, said.
The status of Mount Merapi is still Alert Level III and there is no sign of an increase in potential danger. The potential danger due to the current eruption can reach areas located up to 5 kilometers from the summit.
The BPPTKG’s Mount Merapi Section head Agus Budi Santoso said that the increased volcanic activity of Merapi indicated that the was still the possibility of an explosive eruption on the mountain. All parties should therefore remain alert.
"Data monitoring shows that Merapi\'s activity is still on the increase. So, the probability for an explosive eruption is still high," said Agus.
On Tuesday night there were two eruptions but ash columns in the sky could not be seen due to fog.
Meanwhile, the activity of Mount Sinabung in Karo regency, North Sumatra, is also still being monitored. On Tuesday night there were two eruptions but ash columns in the sky could not be seen due to fog.
POS PENGAMATAN GUNUNG API SINABUNG
Mount Sinabung in Karo Regency, North Sumatra, erupted three times, on Monday (4/1/2021).
Sinabung has erupted eight times since the beginning of the year but the activities of local residents have not been disturbed. "People are still active as usual. So far, the Sinabung eruption has brought no impact on residents\' activities, ” said the acting head of the Karo Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, Natanael Warin-Angin.
On Wednesday morning, people in the vicinity of Mount Sinabung outside the red zone still continued their routines. Farmers went to the fields and opened their stalls. The Sinabung eruption was still relatively small in scale with an ash column height of 700-1,000 meters.
The eruption of Mount Sinabung has caused a number of casualties. (HRS/EGI/NCA/NSA)
(This article was translatedbyHendarsyah Tarmizi).
