Mount Merapi's eruptions last year caused losses of an estimated Rp7.1 trillion in Central Java and Yogyakarta, ANTARA quoted Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif as saying. "The losses were caused not only by damaged buildings but also by disrupted socio-economic activities, such as a decline in the number of hotel guests and flights at Adisucipto Airport," he said here on Sunday. Syamsul, along with Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono, Agriculture Minister Suswono and Social Service Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri was in Magelang district to visit cold lava flood victims at Gempol hamlet. The losses excluded those caused by cold lava floods, he said. Now was still emergency response period during which cold lava flood victims' basic necessaries, including food and children's education must be met first, he said. "About how long the emergency response period will last, we need to consider it first as weather anomaly is expected to occur in January, February and March. If heavy rains fall on Merapi's peak there will be danger here," he said. Shortly before the volcano stopped erupting, the agency in December last year warned local people of the danger of cold lava floods so that the number of victims could be minimized, he said. Mount Merapi had erupted repeatedly for several weeks but its most fatal eruptions occurred on October 26 and November 5, 2010. As a result of the eruptions, at least 259 people had perished and many others sustained serious burns and became displaced. Mount Merapi, on the border between two provinces, lies geographically close to Yogyakarta but is officially part of Central Java. Besides killing and injuring several hundred people, eruptions had also damaged 867 hectares of forested land on the volcano's slopes in Sleman District, Yogyakarta, with material loss estimated at Rp33 billion. Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, whose eruptions have regularly been detected since 1548.
