Data gathered from Indonesia's Mount Merapi indicates a strong likelihood of a major eruption, a geologist has warned. "There is a large opportunity for a major eruption for Merapi," said Subandriyo, a chief geologist at the volcano office in Yogyakarta, just 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) south of the mountain.
However, he said even a strong eruption from the 2,914-meter (9,616-foot) would still be less powerful than other volcanic activity in the region such as Mount Galungung in West Java and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.
"In a scale of 1 to 10, a major Merapi eruption would be at around three," Subandriyo said Sunday.
Still, authorities are already preparing to evacuate the area and some residents have been relocated.
In Klaten district 834 people -- all women, children and the elderly -- were moved Saturday from two villages high on the slope to a temporary shelter outside of the eight-kilometer radius first danger zone, the ElShinta radio said.
Subandriyo said if Merapi erupts, residents living within a 12- to 15-kilometer radius would have to be evacuated.
Merapi's last eruption in 1994 produced heat clouds killing more than 60 people and forcing 6,000 others to evacuate. The mountain last spewed smoke and lava in 2001 but no major eruption followed.
The volcanic activities of the Merapi remained at a high level, but was at about the same as on the previous day, another geologist at the same office, Triyani, said earlier.
