Jakarta - Government authorities warned residents living in
the danger zones of Mount Kelud in Indonesia's crowded East Java on
Sunday of possible danger activity by one of the world's dangerous
volcanoes, local media reports said.
Local authorities in East Java's district of Kediri said dozens of
military soldiers and police officers have been readied to evacuate
residents following the raising of Mount Kelud's alert status to
level three.
'The frequency of the tremors and crater's temperature of Mount
Kelud volcano had continued to increase since Saturday,' said Umar
Rosadi, head of the emergency response team from nearby Kediri
district, about 600 kilometres south-east of Jakarta.
Rosadi said activity at Mount Kelud had increased in the past
several days, adding that local government officials had spread
leaflets advising residents to be ready to evacuate.
Vulcanologists issued recommendations for nearby residents,
including a call that they should not conduct any activity in areas
within 5-kilometres from its crater.
Deputy chief of Ngancar subdistrict military command Lieutenant
Sukana told the state-run Antara news agency that 70 troops had been
mobilized to help evacuate about 24,000 residents of six villages in
danger zones.
The 1,731-metre volcano's most recent eruption was in 1990, when
at least 22 people were killed.
Indonesia has the highest density of volcanoes in the world, with
500 located in a so-called 'Belt of Fire,' along the 5,000-kilometre
wide archipelago nation. Of those, 128 are considered active and 65 -
including Mount Kelud - are considered dangerous.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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