YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia—Mount Merapi continues to spew gas and ash, and the Indonesian military has now deployed special forces units to monitor the volcano’s activity at close range in an effort to prevent further loss of life.
While the force of new eruptions is subsiding, on Wednesday huge ash clouds were still being coughed up by Indonesia’s most dangerous volcano.
The Indonesian military has installed some of its top special forces units—including the marines and army special forces ‘Kopasus’—to within 2 km (1.2 miles) of Mount Merapi to monitor further activity.
Pratu Mar Akmal, spokesman for Marines-1 unit, stated by email that the close monitoring operation was now going smoothly given sunny weather and a favorable wind conditions.“Therefore, monitoring can be done from very close range at about 2 kilometers from the summit of Mount Merapi,” he wrote.
Monitoring from the southeast side of the mountain, the Special Forces report that the hot volcanic ash cloud issuing from the mouth of Merapi is being carried by the wind to the southwest.
Earlier in the operation, however, there was some panic. “The wind direction changed to southeast of the personnel positioned as monitors, so the commander cried out ‘Go Down! Get off! Down!’” wrote Akmal. Then the team started moving down the mountain, he wrote.
After moving about one kilometer down the slope, the wind direction changed back toward the southwest, so the monitoring mission was again declared safe.
“We returned to Camp Kemalang, the monitoring team issuing a desperate appeal to residents feeding their flocks to be alert because the wind direction can change … threatening the life of citizens,” wrote Akmal.
In addition to the threat of hot clouds and burning lava, cold lava is also a threat to residents around Mount Merapi.
While the force of new eruptions is subsiding, on Wednesday huge ash clouds were still being coughed up by Indonesia’s most dangerous volcano.
The Indonesian military has installed some of its top special forces units—including the marines and army special forces ‘Kopasus’—to within 2 km (1.2 miles) of Mount Merapi to monitor further activity.
Pratu Mar Akmal, spokesman for Marines-1 unit, stated by email that the close monitoring operation was now going smoothly given sunny weather and a favorable wind conditions.“Therefore, monitoring can be done from very close range at about 2 kilometers from the summit of Mount Merapi,” he wrote.
Monitoring from the southeast side of the mountain, the Special Forces report that the hot volcanic ash cloud issuing from the mouth of Merapi is being carried by the wind to the southwest.
Earlier in the operation, however, there was some panic. “The wind direction changed to southeast of the personnel positioned as monitors, so the commander cried out ‘Go Down! Get off! Down!’” wrote Akmal. Then the team started moving down the mountain, he wrote.
After moving about one kilometer down the slope, the wind direction changed back toward the southwest, so the monitoring mission was again declared safe.
“We returned to Camp Kemalang, the monitoring team issuing a desperate appeal to residents feeding their flocks to be alert because the wind direction can change … threatening the life of citizens,” wrote Akmal.
In addition to the threat of hot clouds and burning lava, cold lava is also a threat to residents around Mount Merapi.
Cold lava sediment has reached a distance of 10 km (6.2 miles) from the peak of the volcano.
Almost all the rivers in the vicinity of Mount Merapi are already clogged with molten lava, volcanic ash and large chunks of stone.
Surono, head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency, said Merapi was not really safe for the community.
According to Surono, it is difficult to predict how long the dangerous energy and pressure in Merapi will last. “Merapi is still very volatile, with sometimes larger and smaller eruptions,” Surono told reporters in the city of Yogyakarta, about 30 km (18.5 miles) from Merapi.
The safe distance zone remains unchanged at 20 kilometers from the peak of Mount Merapi. The volcano is still on the highest alert status.
Almost all the rivers in the vicinity of Mount Merapi are already clogged with molten lava, volcanic ash and large chunks of stone.
Surono, head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency, said Merapi was not really safe for the community.
According to Surono, it is difficult to predict how long the dangerous energy and pressure in Merapi will last. “Merapi is still very volatile, with sometimes larger and smaller eruptions,” Surono told reporters in the city of Yogyakarta, about 30 km (18.5 miles) from Merapi.
The safe distance zone remains unchanged at 20 kilometers from the peak of Mount Merapi. The volcano is still on the highest alert status.
