"I ordered Tagana to be on standby with regard to Merapi whose alert status was increased," he stated here on Tuesday.
The standby instruction is not only applicable to Tagana but also to all personnel of the Ministry of Social Affairs, as the disaster can also lead to other social problems.
"We hope it would not happen again, and I will go there to review the situation directly," he explained.
Data of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources indicates an increase in the alert status.
The status of Mt. Merapi is raised from Level I (Normal) to Level II (Alert) starting from May 21, 2018, at 11 p.m. local time.
Head of PVMBG Kasbani conveyed that Mt. Merapi reportedly experienced phreatic eruption thrice on May 21, 2018.
The eruption occurred at 1:25 a.m. local time, lasting for 19 minutes, with the eruption column rising 700 meters (m) above the crater; at 9:38 a.m. local time for six minutes, with the height of the eruption column reaching 1,200 m; and at 5:50 p.m. local time, with a duration of three minutes, but the height of the eruption column was not observed.
The rise in the alert status of Mt. Merapi has forced people living within a three-kilometer radius of the summit`s peak to evacuate to safer places.
In the last week, Mt. Merapi had experienced 12 earthquakes, three earthquake eruptions, and five tectonic earthquakes.
Reporter: Desi Purnawati
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
