Mount Merapi, the active volcano in central Java, intensified its activity on Tuesday, releasing 10 heat clouds and 120 lava flows, some stretching two kilometers down its slopes. Smoke columns climbed roughly 900 meters into the sky, nearly twice the height recorded the day before.
The heightened activity follows Saturday's powerful earthquake, which killed more than 5,400 people in central Java. Scientists noted that Merapi had quieted briefly before the quake but surged again in its aftermath. On Monday alone, the volcano produced 88 heat clouds and 186 lava flows.
Authorities have kept the surrounding area on high alert. Vulcanologists warn that a lava dome forming at the summit may be weakening, raising the risk that it could collapse and release millions of cubic meters of rock and molten material.
Monitoring teams also recorded 57 aftershocks on Monday following the Saturday earthquake, including three that measured above 4.0 on the Richter scale.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in May 2006, in its own words.