Mount Merapi Rumbles Spewing Volcanic Material to Nearby Areas

Magelang, C Java (Antara) - Mount Merapi in Magelang, Central Java, rumbled on Sunday morning, spewing some volcanic materials such as ash and sand to the nearby villages. The officer of Mount Merapi Observation Post in Ngepos, Srumbung subdistrict Triyono said the volcano was rumbling at around 04.25 - 04.35 am local time. "However, the mount's peak was foggy, it couldn't be seen from the post". Despite the blast, the Mount Merapi's status remained normal, Triyono said. Meanwhile, Village Head of Babadan, Dukun Subdistrict, Ismael said that the rumble had startled the local residents. "After the rumble, we can see red-colored material spewed from the mount's peak. Residents were nervous, however the condition has returned to normal," he said. Head of Data and Information Center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that after the blast, Mount Merapi spewed lava as far as one km away from the peak flowing to the head of Senowo River. According to the analysis, the lava was not new or juvenile material as the mount has not hade new magmatic eruption phase, Nugroho said. "Most of the material from the blast was gases. The dominant CO2 had triggered the blast. Some frequent tectonic earthquake that happened across Yogya and Central Java also affected the internal system of the Mount Merapi that it spewed the CO2 gas," Nugroho said. (*) reporting by M. Hari Atmoko