MT Kelud's Status Demoted to Alert Level III

Jakarta (Antara) - The alert status of Mount Kelud was demoted to alert level III (Siaga) from the previous highest level (Awas) on Thursday. "Data of volcanic activity collected between Feb 14th and 20th showed no volcanic earthquakes and tremors, which indicates that Mount Kelud will not erupt again," Head of Data and Information Center of Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted in a statement here on Thursday. The demoted status, therefore, allows the residents to return to their homes outside the exclusion zone, an area within a five- kilometer radius of the volcano's crater. However, the residents should remain alert as cold lava still poses a threat, especially for those residing in areas near the rivers, Nugroho added. Previously, on Tuesday (Feb. 18), cold lava streamed from Mount Kelud and gushed into the River Konto, inundating the farming areas in the Kandangan subdistrict, Pare district and Badas subdistrict, and Kediri district, East Java Province. Following the eruption, Mount Kelud is estimated to be currently holding about 50 million cubic meters of lava on its slopes. The cold lava can stream down any time, particularly when it rains. Three main rivers whose upstream areas are located on Mount Kelud are Petung Kobong, Sumber Agung, and Gedog. The major explosive eruption of the 1,731-meter volcano could be heard in Solo (Central Java) and Yogyakarta, which are located around 200 km away. It spewed up gravel and ash that reached up to the West Nusa Tenggara and West Java provinces, which are hundreds of kilometers away. (*)