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AKARTA: The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has raised the alert status of Mount Sundoro in Central Java from level I to level II after the mountain showed increased volcanic activity on Monday night.

“We fear this heightened volcanic activity in the form of deep and shallow volcanic events may trigger further, more extreme volcanic activity, such as ash eruptions,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Tuesday.

He said several disaster-prone areas near the mountain would be directly affected by the volcanic activity, but he told residents to remain calm as there had not been any instructions to evacuate the areas.

“Disaster-Prone Area [KRB] III [2 kilometers from the crater] will potentially be hit with hot clouds, lava flows, poisonous gas, hurls of incandescent rocks and heavy ash rains,” he said.

KRB II and I, which are situated at a distance of 5 and 8 kilometers from the crater, respectively, would also be affected by similar conditions.

The BNPB stated that the volcanic activity of Mount Sundoro began to increase in November and was expected to continue into December.