Indonesian Volcano Forces Evacuation

2010-10-29 165

And in Indonesia, authorities are preparing for a volcano to erupt. Mount Merapi could give way any time now... forcing thousands of villagers to evacuate.

The risk of an eruption from the Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia is looking increasingly likely.

Authorities are preparing to evacuate nearly 11,500 villagers who live on its slopes after raising the alert level to maximum on Monday.

Volcanologists say the volcano has released twice as much energy in the past few days than it has in recent eruptions.

They're warning they can't predict when an eruption will happen or how big it will be but they're taking no chances.

Merapi killed 70 people in 1994.

In 1930 it claimed 1, 300 lives.

This time around everyone living within 10 kilometers from the top will be moved to the safety of camps set up some distance away.