Although the volcano`s status has been lowered the government is still anticipating any possible threat such as a bigger eruption,"Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The status of Mount Merapi in Tanah Datar district, West Sumatra, has been Lowered to "alert" although it erupted nine times since 09.00-14.00 local time on Wednesday, a natural disaster agency official said.
The aruptions caused local residents to abandon their homes, and seek refuge in safer places, Isfamal, the head of the local Natural Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), said.
Mount Merapi`s status was lowered to `alert` from "beware" previosly, he said.
The lowering of the mountain`s status was decided at a coordination meeting with the national Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
Isfamal said the agency had assigned a team to monitor the volcano`s activity and related situation continuously.
The agency along with the government was also ready to implement the natural volcano eruption disaster Standard Operation Procedure (SOP).
"Although the volcano`s status has been lowered the government is still anticipating any possible threat such as a bigger eruption," Isfamal said.
Local residents had been asked to evacuate to places at least 10 kilometers from the active volcano if a big eruption occurred. "They must flee to mosques and schools in safer zones," he said.
The volcano was also still closed to climbers for safety reasons because volcanic ashes were still covering the land lying within a radius of five kilometers from the volcano`s crater.
Mount Merapi`s height is recorded at 2891 meters above sea level (masl) in rural Koto Baru, X Koto sub-district, Tanah Datar district, West Sumatra.
From the late 18th century until 2008 there were 454 recorded eruptions with 50 of them categorized as large scale.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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