Indonesia volcano spurs evacuations
Mountain releases gas, pyroclastic flows.

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia (AP) - Officials evacuated 11,000 villagers from around Mount Merapi volcano as it shot out lava and superheated clouds of gas, authorities said yesterday.

The mountain’s lava dome has swelled in recent weeks, raising fears that it could suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of fast-moving gas and debris into populated areas.

The government of nearby Magelang district mobilized more than 40 trucks and cars to evacuate about 11,000 villagers from three subdistricts near the foot of the mountain, said Edy Susanto, a district official.

He said the villagers were taken to temporary shelters, including school buildings.

"Of course it is dangerous. But we don’t know for sure whether the lava dome will collapse," said Subandriyo, a government vulcanologist who uses only one name.

Red-hot lava flowed as far as a half-mile from the mountain’s crater while gas clouds called pyroclastic flows streamed as far as 1½ miles down its southwestern slope, Subandriyo said.

The 9,800-foot mountain is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.

Activity has risen since a 6.3-magnitude earthquake May 27 hit a region about 20 miles to the south, killing at least 5,862 people. Some scientists say the quake might have contributed to the increased volcanic activity.

Geophysicist John Bellini at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., said volcanic activity is not an indicator of impending earthquakes.

A major eruption could severely strain quake relief efforts.

The government earlier urged residents to evacuate a danger zone on the mountain’s fertile slopes, but thousands of villagers stayed in their homes, saying they didn’t want to abandon their fields and livestock, and complaining of boredom at the shelters.

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