Gunung Merapi Lava Dome Collapses: Central Java, Indonesia

In a development that may have marked the peak of the volcano's activity, parts of Mt. Merapi’s new lava dome collapsed late on Friday. And now authorities from the Yogyakarta Volcanology research Agency are re-evaluating the alert status for the mountain.

Not long after Gunung Merapi spewed hot lava and gases for four hours straight and subsequently travelled five kilometres down the mountain, parts of the new lava dome collapsed and struck nearby Kendil Hill. It seems this collapse has reduced the lava dome's height from 116 meters to 93 meters. There is an estimated six million cubic meters of magma inside the volcano but its activities in the past two months had cut the amount to 2.7 million cubic meters.

Activity at the volcano, one of the most active in the world, was estimated to be at its highest Friday night. Hot clouds of ash from Merapi on Saturday set ablaze fire some 500 hectares of pine forest on the mountain's slopes. Many hamlets were still deserted as most villagers remained at the shelters. In Sleman, at least 5,000 villagers are estimated to be living at emergency shelters.

Now it is a 'wait and see' game between mountain and man. We can only hope and pray that the irk of mother nature doesn’t strike again powerfully enough for a second devastation of the area. The recent earthquake pierced the souls of the Javanese people and with an eruption, it would be the final curtain on an ancient and beautiful city.