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Mount Merapi releases hot cloud on Tuesday (3/9/2021). (ANTARA/HO-BPPTKG/am).

Volume of lava dome in the middle of the crater's peak of Mount Merapi is estimated to reach 950 thousand cubic meters on March 18, 2021, Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) stated.

"The estimated volume of the dome is 950 thousand cubic meters, with a growth rate of 12,800 cubic meters per day since January 4, 2021," Head of BPPTKG Hanik Humaida noted in a written statement received here on Saturday.

Humaida remarked that the volume of the lava dome in the middle of the Merapi crater is greater than the volume of the lava dome on the southwest side of the mountain that reaches 840 thousand cubic meters, with a growth rate of 12,900 cubic meters per day.

Mount Merapi has two lava domes that both grow. The first lava dome lies on the southwest side of Merapi, above the lava from the eruption that occurred in 1997. The second lava dome was observed by the BPPTKG on February 4, 2021, in the middle of the crater's peak of Merapi.

Humaida explained that on March 12-18, 2021, Mount Merapi emitted searing clouds thrice as far as one kilometer (km) in the southwest direction and spewed lava 211 times as far as 1.2 km in the same direction.The BPPTKG also observed a low-intensity lava flow at the Boyong River on March 12 and 17, 2021.

However, this week's measurement results do not show any significant changes in the characteristic shape of Mount Merapi.

The BPPTKG continued to maintain the status of Mount Merapi at Level III (alert).

Residents are urged to stay vigilant of the potential impact of volcanic lava and hot clouds from Mount Merapi in the south-southwest sector that comprises Kuning, Boyong, Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng, and Putih Rivers.

In the meantime, Mount Merapi's volcanic material can flow as far as three kilometers from the mountain's peak//ANT