Indonesia downgrades Mount Bromo volcano's alert level

Dec 6, 2010, 8:44 GMT

Jakarta - Indonesian authorities on Monday downgraded the alert level for Mount Bromo in East Java province as the volcano's activity declined after a series of minor eruptions.

The Centre of Vulcanology and Geological Mitigation said the status was downgraded one notch from the highest alert level based on observations, an analysis of seismic data and the potential danger of eruption.

However, residents around the volcano, tourists and climbers were still not allowed to enter an area within a radius of 2 kilometres from the volcano's crater, the centre said.

Ash eruptions from Bromo last week caused the closure of Abdurahman Saleh Airport in nearby Malang for five days. Passenger flights to and from the city resumed Sunday.

Mount Bromo's status was upgraded to the top alert level on November 26 and placed offlimits to visitors, but no evacuation order was issued for residents living nearby.

The top alert means an eruption is possible in the next 24 hours while the next level means that if volcanic activity continues, an eruption is possible in two weeks.

The 2,329-meter peak, about 750 kilometres east of Jakarta, is a popular tourist destination. Two tourists were killed when the volcano erupted in 2004.

Indonesia has about 500 volcanoes, nearly 130 of them active and 68 classified as dangerous.

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