Indonesian authorities on Saturday ordered the evacuation of thousands of residents near Mount Merapi, warning a deadly volcanic eruption could be imminent, CNN reported. Merapi, one of Indonesia's most dangerous and active volcanoes, has been rumbling for about a month. Increased lava flow during the past day and a new lava dome forming at the peak triggered immediate concerns. Around 34,000 residents of the area in central Java province southwest of Jakarta are being evacuated, with authorities going to individual residences to remove people. Most residents are farmers, some of whom are reluctant to leave their land. Scientists on Saturday recorded 27 volcanic tremors as burning lava oozed from the crater, said Dr. Ratdomo Purbo in a report from The Associated Press. Ratdomo heads an observation post at Merapi. The mountain had "begun spewing hot (ash) clouds at least 14 times today," Ratdomo said in the AP report. Lava flows reached 1,500 meters (nearly a mile) down its slopes, he said, prompting hundreds to immediately leave their homes. Officials have said as many as 7,000 people still need to leave. With a peak measuring around 2,900 meters -- or 9,700 feet -- Merapi has been almost continuously active for nearly a decade. NASA's Earth Observatory says Merapi's slopes are densely populated. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says as many as 80,000 people could be displaced if Merapi erupts, depending which way the lava flows. An eruption in 1994 claimed at least 66 lives, and a 1930 eruption killed 1,370, according to NASA's Web site. Merapi is one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" -- a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
