Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi ('Mountain of Fire'), is a conical volcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is very close to the city of Yogyakarta, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1700 m above sea level.
BPPTK Yogyakarta reported that there is no indication yet to raise the level of alertness from level III to the highest one (level IV which means eruption is most likely to happen in a matter of 24 hours). BPPTK 19 Apr. observation reported 113 multi phase tremors, 13 streams of lava, 8 volcanic tremors, with white and thick SO2 smoke of 400 m height from its crater.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, the Governor of Yogyakarta Province, encouraged the evacuation of vulnerable groups (pregnant women, elderly and children) to safer areas.
Based on PMI data (20 Apr.) from their sources in SATLAK in each district, the number of affected people in Boyolali is 6,399 persons, in Magelang 33,458 person, in Klaten 1,050 persons, in Sleman 18,967 persons.
Abbreviations · BPPTK: Center for Volcano Research and Technology Development · SO2: sulphur oxide
