INDONESIA: Mount Kelud continues to spew steam and ashes

Indonesian villagers tend crops in shadow of Mount Kelud despite threat of major volcanic eruption. Steam and ashes continued to spew from the crater of Mount Kelud in East Java in Indonesia on Wednesday (November 7). It was dangerously close to an eruption on Monday (November 5) as magma pushed through its blocked crater and caused boiling water to spill down its sides. Authorities have been monitoring Mount Kelud for several weeks and raised its alert status to the highest level about two weeks ago as its activity increased. Kelud means "sweeper" in Javanese, a reference to the fact that when it erupts, it sweeps away everything in its path. An estimated 350,000 people live within ten kilometres (six miles) of the volcano, which is about 90 km (56 miles) southwest of Surabaya. It has been difficult to convince the villagers in the area to move to the shelters, and many of those who evacuated to the shelters in the past two weeks later returned to their homes. A refugee camp located at Pluncing field, about 15 km (nine miles) from the Kelud crater, can accommodate nearly 3000 people. Many adults take off in the morning from the camp to get back to their normal lives on their land during the day time. Mujianto is one of the refugees who has kept to his routine activity every morning by going to his croft in the foothills of Mount Kelud. "Actually I'm afraid to be here but I must do this. If I stay in the camp, who will take care of my croft?" Mujianto said told Reuters at his croft, which is near the foothills of Mount Kelud A makeshift school and other facilities like a kitchen are set up to accommodate children and attract villagers to stay in the camp. When it last erupted in 1990 at least 30 people were killed, while about 5,000 died in 1919 when it spewed scalding water from its crater lake. Indonesia has the highest number of active volcanoes than any other country, sitting on a belt of intense seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

ITN Source | November 7, 2007

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