Mt Semeru showing signs of declining activity

Lumajang, East Java (ANTARA News) - Mount Semeru in East Java province showed signs of declining activity in the past week, spewing ashes 15 to 17 times once every four hours.
The declining activity however caused residents to worry about a powerful eruption, said Tohari, who is in charge of monitoring the volcano`s lava flows, on Monday.
The volcano earlier spewed ashes 80 times per day with intervals of 20 to 30 minutes, he said.
He said volcanological workers had difficulty monitoring the volcano`s activity visually as thick smoke was blanketing it.
"To monitor its activity we are now relying on seismographs and digital monitoring instruments installed at Mount Sawur," he said. (*) END