Nov 5, 2007, 10:14 GMT
Jakarta - Mount Kelud volcano in Indonesia's densely populated East Java continued spewing white clouds of smoke Monday, worrying scientists that a major eruption is imminent.
Rising underground magma movement has built up pressure on the blocked crater and damaged essential equipment to monitor water temperature in the volcano's crater lake, according to Volcanologist Umar Rosadi from a nearby monitoring post.
'In the last two days, the significant temperature increase has damaged our monitoring equipment,' Rosadi said. 'We're no longer able to monitor the water temperature in the crater lake.'
The 1,731-metre volcano, 600 kilometres south-east of Jakarta, has been on red alert for more than two weeks as its activity increased and a major eruption appeared imminent.
However, scientists monitoring the volcano have also said that an eruption may be small or gradual, or might not happen at all given the unpredictable character of one of the country's most dangerous volcanoes.
Scientist Agus Budianto said that pressure of the energy rising inside Kelud was now three to four times as strong as that which triggered the last eruption in 1990, which killed at least 34 people.
Budianto said that explosion created a blockage that magma has not been able to fully break through, resulting in a column of steam rising from the surface of the crater lake, a new phenomena for Kelud.
Water temperature at Kelud's crater lake is predicted to have soared to more than 90 degrees Celsius at the depth of 15 metres, more than double compared to 40 degrees ahead the volcano's latest eruption in 1990.
On Monday morning, Mount Kelud volcano spewed thick white smoke up to 800 metres into the air, Umar Rosadi said, adding that the number of tremors inside the volcano were rising.
Authorities estimated as many as 116,000 people have to be evacuated from a radius of 10 kilometres from Mount Kelud's crater, as scientists fear that the buildup of magma could trigger a violent blast, sending a torrent of mud, ash and rock down the slopes of the volcano.
Mount Kelud's last major eruption in 1919 has killed at least 5,160 people and destroyed dozens of villages nearby.
Indonesia has the world's highest density of volcanoes, with 500 located in the 'Pacific Ring of Fire,' where seismic and volcanic activity is common. Nearly 130 of these are active and 65, including Kelud, are listed as dangerous.
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