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ERANG: A government official told residents of Banten’s coastal areas earlier this week not to panic over a rumor that if the active volcano Anak Krakatau erupted massively it could create a devastating tsunami.

Head of the Krakatau Monitoring Post Anton S. Tripambudi said the news about a potential tsunami was a hoax and he called on people in the coastal areas of Banten to only heed the warnings given by the local government officials tasked with disaster mitigation.

“Just ignore any text messages saying that there will be a tsunami created by [Anak] Krakatau’s volcanic activities. [Anak] Krakatau is on alert status and will not cause a tsunami,” he was quoted by kompas.com.

Anton said his telephone had been ringing constantly over the past two days because many people were anxious to get the latest updates on the volcano’s activity. — JP