Mountain Merapi, East Java, Indonesia Spew The Cold Lava

Merapi Mount, one of Indonesia Java volcanic mount and one of International destination in Indonesia - Java was spew out cold lava. Heavy rain in the Mount Merapi peak caused the cold lava flood  all along the Gendol river current in the Cangkringan subdistrict territory, the Sleman regency, in Yogyakarta on Sunday afternoon, December 27, 2009.

The Section Head of Irrigation, Mining and the Control of the Natural Disaster in Sleman, Widi Sutikno, said that the cold lava which brought volcanic materials flowed as far as the radius around 10 kilometres from Merapi’s peak. He estimated that the cold lava reached the Manggung Village and the border of the Kepuh Village.

According to him, there were no fatalities and the material loss resulting from this incident, because the activity of the sand mining has stopped at that time, after having information that in the Mount Merapi peak heavy rain happened.
“Indeed for a moment beforehand had a truck of the sand carrier stalled in the Gendol riverbed, however finally succeeded in rescued, so as not to fatalities in the incident,” he said.

He said that the cold lava flood reached as far as the radius around 10 kilometresfrom Merapi’speak or to the Manggung Village and the border of the Kepuh Village in the Cangkringan Subdistrict.

 “There is the road passed by in the Gendol river in the region, so as with security considerations finally this road was closed now time because it is worried that there would be the overflowing of cold lava flood that could endangered  humankind” he said.

Meanwhile,the Section Head Mountain Merapi, Balai Penyelidikan and Pengembangan Teknologi Kegunungapian (BPPTK), Yogyakarta, Sri Sumarti said that the heavy rain at Mountain Merapi peak on that afternoon hasn’t brought significant volcanic materials yet.

 “It is just the normal flood which bring river material, not Mount Merapi volcanic material” she said.
Further, Sri said that the official could warn the sand miner before, to step aside when rain began to descend at  14.00 pm. One hour at intervals of, the workers stopped their activities. Then at 15.10 pm, the cold lava flood began to enter the Gendol river.(JUM).

According to her, the incident began at 14.00 pm when the heavy rain at Mountain Merapi happened, then at 14.45 pm her staffs carried out the co-ordination with the official in the Gendol River region to remind the sand miners.

“At  15.00 pm the flood has happened and the sand miners as well as the truck of the sand carrier stopped their activities, including pulling on a truck that stalled in the riverbed,”  she said.

Afterwards at 15,10 pm the flood current began to enter the Gendol River and at 15.20 pm the flood has reached Jambu Village in the Cangkringan Subdistrict.

"At this time the condition around 500.000 cubic metre material volcanic eruption 2006 was still being stable, and was unaffected heavy rain that happened this afternoon," she said.