Indonesia Downgrades Volcano Alert

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File photo: Mount Merapi during code red.

by Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) Jul 12, 2006
Indonesian scientists on Wednesday fully downgraded the alert status of Mount Merapi from code red but warned residents to still stay away from the volcano's peak, an official said. "The alert status was downgraded in view of the decreasing activity," said an official at the volcanology office in Yogyakarta, the main city south of Merapi.

He said however the lower alert level did not mean the danger was over.

"People are advised not to get nearer than eight kilometers (five miles) from Merapi's peak," he said.

Merapi had been on its top alert for most of the time since May 13, meaning scientists feared an imminent eruption.

Two people were killed last month when they were trapped in an emergency bunker under debris carried by searing clouds of volcanic gas.

Merapi's increased activity forced the evacuation of 15,000 villagers, but most of them have now returned home.

The volcano's deadliest eruption was in 1930 when more than 1,300 people were killed.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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