TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Mount Merapi status is upgraded from normal (level I) to alert (level II). It is because there is an increase in volcanic activity of Mount Merapi which is characterized by a streak of the phreatic eruption and followed by seismicity.
Head of Data Center and Information of National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the status is valid since Monday night, at 23:00 pm.
"So the residents within a radius of three kilometers from the top of Mount Merapi should be emptied," he said on Tuesday, May 22.
The climbing activities are temporarily prohibited, except for investigation and research related to disaster mitigation.
Based on the records of Research and Development Center of Geological Disaster Technology (BPPTKG) Yogyakarta, there have been four phreatic eruptions accompanied by the roar from Monday, May 21 to Tuesday, May 22 at 03:30 am.
The impact was the rain of volcanic ash around Mount Merapi such as in Sleman Yogyakarta, covering Cangkringan District (Glagaharjo Village, Kepuharjo Village, Umbulharjo Village), Pakem Sub-district (Purwobinangun Village, Hargobinangun Village, Kaliurang Village), and Ngemplak Sub-District (Widomartani Village). In addition, the ash rain occurred in the area of Klaten regency, namely in Kemalang District (Balerante Village and Panggang Village).
Since Monday night, some people have evacuated to the safer places. A total of 298 residents from Kalitengah Lor, Kalitengah Kidul, and Srunen in Cangkringan sub-district have evacuated independently to Glagaharjo Village Hall and 362 residents of Dukuh Takeran and Dukuh Stabelan in Tlogolele Village, Boyolali District have evacuated independently in Tologolele Village refugee camp.
According to Sutopo, the number of independent refugees continues to increase. Therefore, the local Disaster Management Agency has distributed aid and is still collecting data.
"We also continue to coordinate with PVMBG and BPBD, both in the areas of Central Java Province and the Special Region of Yogyakarta to anticipate eruptions from Merapi mountain and increase alert status," he said.
TEMPO.CO