Indonesia raises alert level on Mt Kelud volcano
JAKARTA, Sep 30 (Reuters) Indonesian scientists have raised the alert for Mount Kelud, a volcano in East Java, to the second-highest level following increased activity, an official said today.
Volcanic tremors and increased temperatures in the past four days have led to fears of an eruption, and residents have been told to stay away from the the 1,731-metre volcano, Yan Mulyana, an official at the Indonesian Vulcanology Survey, told Reuters.
Mount Kelud is 87.5 kilometres southwest of Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city.
''We urge people to remain calm and not to be agitated by rumours of an eruption,'' Mulyana said.
Residents have been told to avoid staying within a five-kilometre (three-mile) zone.
A 1919 eruption of Mount Kelud caused the lake in its crater to burst through the volcano rim and sent boiling water down its slopes, killing 5,000 people in 104 villages.
Indonesia
has
the
highest
number
of
active
volcanoes
of
any
country,
sitting
on
a
belt
of
intense
seismic
activity
known
as
the
''Pacific
Ring
of
Fire.''
REUTERS
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