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Published: Monday October 25, 2010 MYT 3:47:00 PM
Updated: Monday October 25, 2010 MYT 6:32:02 PM
Indonesian volcano expected to erupt soon, Malaysian students evacuated
JAKARTA: All 34 Malaysian students at a religious institute at Secang in Magelang, central Java, are being moved to Solo Monday, away from the debris of a volcano expected to erupt any time. Experts are forecasting that the eruption this time would be much bigger than the last one in 2006.
The students are being evacuated after Indonesian authorities issued an "alert level" warning, requiring all to vacate the vicinity of Gunung Merapi, the world's most active volcano. Malaysian Students Department Director in Indonesia Datuk Dr Junaidy Abu Bakar said the students, together with medical undergraduates from the Surakarta State University, will volunteer for relief work.
Junaidy said the Malaysians at the Sirajul Mukhlasin Religious Institute were private students and were safe because the volcano is some distance from the institute. Even so, the students will be evacuated as an added precaution, and will stay in an area with a direct telephone dailing system, Junaidy said. He added that Malaysian students in Yogyakarta were also being put on alert, and they too will volunteer to help victims.
The volcano is within the boundaries of the Yogyakarta Special District in central Java. The alert level warning was issued by the Centre for Education on and Development of Volcano Technology of Yogyakarta at 6am local time Monday, after the increase in frequency of multiphase quakes. About 40,000 people live in the districts around the volcano.
In the Sleman district, residents have been moved since 7am. The evacuation in Magelang, meanwhile, is restricted to areas in the path of the debris spray. Unlike the case of most other volcanos, where the lava is "shot up," experts said magma from Gunung Merapi flows to the foot of the mountain. - Bernama
