Located in the area between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces, Mt Merapi is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. There are thousands of villagers living on its slopes.
Based on the morphological analysis of the volcano’s lava dome released by the Centre for Research and Development of Geological Disaster Technology (BPPTKG), the volume of lava falls reached 439 thousand cubic metres, with growth rate of 3,400 cubic metres per day, lower than that of the previous week.
The BPPTKG continues to maintain the alert status of the volcano at level II (caution) of the four-tiered Indonesia volcano alert system.
The agency also called on local residents to not conduct activities within a three-kilometre radius of the volcano`s peak
Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) has warned people living in the southwest coast of Aceh province to be alert of tidal waves that could appear due to the supermoon.
According to the agency the phenomenon could affect the sea tides in several regions in Indonesia, which in turn could cause the disruption of transportation in coastal areas.
The BMKG issued the warning to anticipate the supermoon phenomenon, which is estimated to last for two days from January 19 to 22.
It also predicted the potential of increasing sea waves to occur at night when the supermoon phenomenon takes place, while calling on the people in coastal area of southwest Aceh to always be alert and continue monitoring weather information updates.
