Villagers Flee Biggest Eruption Yet From Mt Merapi

The Indonesian volcano Mount Merapi spewed a spectacular rolling cloud of hot gas and ash down its southern slope today, in what a government expert said was its biggest eruption yet.

More than 15,000 villagers ran to safety or piled into cars and trucks, officials said, as dark grey clouds poured three miles down the mountainside.

Mt Merapi has been venting steam and ash for weeks, but this morning's burst was the largest yet, according to Sugiono, an Indonesian government vulcanologist.

It was one of a series of powerful explosions, but hundreds of villagers living on the volcano's fertile slopes refused to leave, saying they wanted to tend livestock or crops. "Of course we're worried," one resident, Supriatun, said by mobile phone, adding that her small dairy farming community was so far untouched. "But as long as the hot clouds do not reach us, we won't go."

The governor of Yogyakarta province, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, said there was no reason for alarm. "There's nothing to worry about," he told Reuters. "There have been eruptions, but so far from the report I received this morning the conditions remain as of yesterday."

Another vulcanologist, Triyani, from the state-run centre for vulcanological research and technology development, said the increased emissions were not the huge eruption they were expecting.

"This is not the major slide we are waiting for. We could not ascertain yet when the biggest hot cloud will appear. We cannot project the time," he said.

Some scientists say a powerful earthquake on May 27 that killed more than 5,700 people in an area 25 miles south of Mount Merapi may have contributed to the volcano's volatility in recent weeks.

The rumbling mountain's lava dome has swelled, raising concerns that it could suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of fast-moving gas, lava and rocks into areas yet to be evacuated.

Sutomo, a government official at the scene, told Associated Press that 3,500 people had fled Sleman district on Merapi's southern side, some clutching children as they ran and others heading to towns at the base in trucks or cars.

Another 12,000 people fled their villages in Magelang district on the west side. Farmers carrying piles of grass on their head ran down the mountain, as others clambered on to motorcycles.

"We saw the hot cloud spilling down the mountain and ran as fast as we could," said Judi Sutrisono, a father of five, adding that ash had covered rooftops in Jrakah, a village four miles from the crater. Sutrisono was among hundreds of people seeking refuge in a makeshift camp set up in a field dotted with Red Cross tents. As he spoke, a truck carrying 30 men, women and children arrived. Roads leading to the mountain peak had been closed, said Sunarto, another government official.

Authorities had earlier urged residents to evacuate the danger zone on the mountain's fertile slopes. Some 20,000 people left, but thousands more stayed behind, some complaining of boredom at shelters set up in schools, mosques and at government offices.

Merapi's last deadly eruption was in 1994, when it sent out a searing gas cloud that burned 60 people to death. About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930.

Authorities said that another big, deadly eruption would severely strain ongoing earthquake relief operations in nearby Bantul and Klaten districts. More than half a million people were displaced in last month's tremor, many living in makeshift shelters with no toilets or running water.

Hundreds of local and international relief workers poured into the region to help, providing food, tents and medical supplies to survivors.

"If there's a large blast at Merapi that causes deaths and injuries, we'll need help from paramedics now deployed in the quake-zone - especially with severe burns," said Imam Purwadi, a government official who is overseeing relief efforts at both sites. People displaced by the quake and volcano would also need nutritional supplements, he said, adding that local authorities had not yet come up with a plan to deal with simultaneous crises.

Indonesia is located in the so-called Pacific "ring of fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The Bulusan volcano in the central Philippines was spewing ash and hot steam into the air late yesterday, prompting scientists to raise the alert level in fear of a bigger eruption.

In southern Japan, Mt Sakurajima was also volatile, spitting a plume of smoke about 1,000 metres into the air. There were no reports of damage or injuries in those other volcanic eruptions.