Australian travelers warned of possible volcano eruption in Indonesia

[Snowy Owl]

Australian travelers warned of possible volcano eruption in Indonesia

CANBERRA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government on Friday warned Australian travelers against possible volcano eruption in Indonesia's central Java island.

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has reviewed and reissued its travel advice to Indonesia. The new advice contains warning of increased volcanic activity at Mount Merapi.

"On 12 April 2006 the Indonesian Directorate of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised the alert status for Mt. Merapi volcano in Central Java warning that volcanic activity has increased and that an eruption might be imminent," the advice said.

DFAT told Australian travelers to follow the advice of local authorities in the event of a natural disaster.

Indonesia has raised the alert status of a massive volcano on Java Island to the second-highest level. Villagers living nearby have already been told to prepare for a possible evacuation.

Merapi, located in Central Java Province, is one of the most active of at least 129 volcanoes in Indonesia.

Merapi's last major eruption was in 1994, killing at least 43 people. It is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Jakarta

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/14/content_4423873.htm

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Australian travelers warned of possible volcano eruption in Indonesia

US sent out a Warden message yesterday about this subject.

http://www.usembassyjakarta.org/news/warden041306.html

U.S. EMBASSY WARDEN MESSAGE

April 13, 2006

U.S. Embassy Jakarta
U.S. Consulate General Surabaya

Warden Message

The U.S. Embassy informs Americans in Indonesia that the Indonesian Center for Vulcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised the alert status for

Mt. Merapi Volcano in Central Java to Level 3 on April 12, 2006.

Level 3 means that volcanic activity has increased and that an eruption might be imminent.

Authorities have forbidden climbing on Mt. Merapi until further notice, and advised miners and local residents to avoid coming within an 8-kilometer radius of Merapi’s summit. ................etc.

[Snowy Owl]

ndonesia's Mount Karangetang hit by a tectonic earthquake

Indonesia's Mount Karangetang hit by a tectonic earthquake

Last Updated 18/04/2006, 03:54:47

A strong tectonic earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale has hit the Mount Karangetang area in the north of Indonesia.

The quake was centered 200 kilometers under the seabed of Siau island in the country's northernmost region but they've been no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

It comes as Indonesia prepares for the possible evacuation of nearly 30-thousand people living on the slopes of Java's simmering volcano Mount Merapi.

Vulcanologists have raised the alert to stage two, one level below ordering an evacuation from the country's second most active volcano.

All districts on the slopes of the two-thousand 900 metre volcano are preparing to coordinate relief and rescue efforts

Merapi's last eruption in 1994 produced heat clouds which killed more than 60 people and forced 6,000 others to evacuate.

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1617680.htm