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Authorities stay alert despite Mt. Raung'€™s declined activity

Local authorities have called on residents living nearby Mount Raung in East Java to stay alert despite a decline in the volcano’s activity shortly after its alert status was upgraded

Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post)
Banyuwangi, East Java/Medan
Thu, July 2, 2015

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Authorities stay alert despite Mt. Raung'€™s declined activity

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ocal authorities have called on residents living nearby Mount Raung in East Java to stay alert despite a decline in the volcano'€™s activity shortly after its alert status was upgraded.

On Monday, the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) raised Mt. Raung'€™s alert status from Level 2 to Level 3 after it discharged molten lava and spewed volcanic ashes on Sunday and Monday.

Volcano alerts range from Level 1 to Level 4.

As of Wednesday, activity at the 3,332-meter volcano, located on the border between Jember, Bondowoso and Banyuwangi regencies, had been reportedly decreasing although its alert status remained at Level 3.

'€œThis [Wednesday] morning at around 8 a.m. local time, I received a report from the Banyuwangi Disaster Mitigation Agency [BPBD] saying that the Mt. Raung observation station had detected no significant volcanic activity since it rumbled on Sunday and Monday,'€ Banyuwangi regency administration'€™s spokesman Djuang Pribadi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Despite the volcano'€™s declining activity, Djuang said the local administration had prepared several evacuation points and public kitchens in Songgong district in anticipation of possible eruptions.

Bondowoso BPBD operational head Kukuh Triyatmoko, meanwhile, said volcanic ash, carried by winds in the direction of Bondowoso on Tuesday and Wednesday, was not as thick as that seen on Monday.

According to Kukuh, two districts in Bondowoso lie within Mt. Raung'€™s potentially Disaster Prone Area (KRB), with 2,088 residents needing evacuation in the event of an eruption.

The affected districts, Banyuwangi and Jember, have six and one subdistricts respectively within in the KRB area, which covers land roughly within a 3-kilometer radius of the volcano'€™s roughly kilometer-wide crater.

Mt. Raung previously erupted in February, but volcanic materials were not emitted.

In preparation, East Java BPBD head Sudarmawan said 33 evacuation points were in place across the three regencies to anticipate a Mt. Raung eruption.

'€œFrom the pattern of eruption that took place in 2012, the worst-hit area could be Banyuwangi. We are still coordinating [with local authorities] on the contingency plan,'€ said Sudarmawan.

On Wednesday, BPBD officials from the affected areas gathered to discuss their contingency plan in anticipation of an eruption.

The evacuation process would be carried out soon after the PVMBG declared an eruption.

Seismographic data from Songgong district'€™s observation post has shown vibration widths of between 17 and 22 millimeters over the past few days.

Air navigation authorities have also warned flights to and from Surabaya, the province'€™s capital city, and Denpasar, Bali, against flying over Mt. Raung.

Earlier this week, the central government revealed a plan to establish a special taskforce to coordinate mitigation efforts for the ongoing eruption of Mt. Sinabung in Karo Regency, North Sumatra, where activity still fluctuates following its eruption in September 2013.

On a recent visit to Karo, Presidential chief of staff Luhut Panjaitan said the taskforce would lead all aspects of the Mt. Sinabung response effort, including the permanent relocation of local residents where necessary.

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