Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
A temperature sensor at Mount Kelud, East Java, was damaged Saturday and could not provide crucial information on the volcano, which has been on the second highest alert status since last Saturday.
The head of the Mount Kelud Emergency Response Team, Umar Rosadi, said the broken sensor, located on the rim of the volcano's crater, was vital in the evaluation of its status.
"We don't dare approach the crater due to the risk of carbon dioxide poisoning.
"We don't know when the sensor will be operational again, but we will try to reach it when carbon dioxide levels decrease," Umar told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Journalists from MetroTV and Antara were reportedly diagnosed with carbon dioxide poisoning after traveling to the area to report on the volcano.
In a bid to prevent further cases of carbon dioxide poisoning, the Kediri regency administration has told journalists to seek permission before climbing the volcano.
Journalists must now sign a disclaimer before approaching the mountain, which has been closed to the public since September.
Umar said although the volcano's activity had been stable for a few days, it was still dangerous and there was a chance its status could be raised to the highest alert status.
"By 6 a.m. today there had already been two large earthquakes. Previously, there was only one tremor a day on average," he said.
However, residents from Kediri and Blitar, where the mountain is located, are yet to be evacuated.
Residents living in the area have set up makeshift tents near their homes in anticipation of increased volcanic activity, Umur said.
The head of the Blitar regency Disaster Mitigation Coordination Unit, Palal Ali Santoso, said the administration plans to conduct evacuation training for local residents in the near future.
The volcano's 1919 eruption sent boiling water down the mountain's slopes, killing some 5,000 people in 104 villages.
"Each river in the area has at least seven dams to hamper the flow of lahar (water and rocks). We are very well prepared for this. The dams will help people here feel more secure," Saut Simatupang, the head of volcano investigation at the center for volcanology and geological hazard mitigation, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
He said that barriers along 10 rivers in the area were being strengthened with cement.
Some 100,000 people, mostly farmers, live on the slopes of the volcano, which is located some 90 km southwest of East Java capital Surabaya.
No comments:
Post a Comment