REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAGELANG -- The volcanic activity of Mount Merapi in Central Java has been declining, but the mountain still remains under an alert status.

"The activity has tended to drop (since 23.50 pm on April 29), but the mountain is still under an alert status," said Purwono, who monitors Mount Merapi's activity at Babadan, Magelang, here on Saturday.

Based on his monitoring from 00.00 to 07.00 hours on Saturday, there were six avalanche earthquakes and three tectonic earthquakes, while on Friday there were 10 avalanche earthquakes, one tectonic and one distant tectonic quake.

He added that the rain stopped at around 10pm on Friday, as debris was falling from the mountain's peak.

Purwono also denied that lava had flown from the volcano. He said from Friday to Saturday no explosions had been heard and there had been no avalanches.

"People must not panic, but remain alert. Any development would be announced by monitoring workers and BPPTKG (the Geological Disaster Technology, Development and Study Agency)."

He said the mountain is still closed for climbing, but activities of the people living around the mountain are being carried out as normal.

Ismael, the head of Krinjing village in the sub-district of Dukun, Magelang, said he had continued notifying the public about the volcanic activity.

Krinjing, with 10 hamlets, is inhabited by 2,154 people made up of 602 families. It is one of the villages located nearest to the peak of the mountain.

"Villagers who used to collect grass for their livestock and also firewood, as close as 1 to 2 kilometers from the peak of the mountain, are now mostly working in their fields around their hamlets," he said.

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