Bromo's Volcanic Ashes Still Far from Malang

Malang (Antara Bali) - The volcanic ashes spewed by Mount Bromo whose status has been raised to the fourth or "beware" level  has not reached Malang District yet.

The volcanic ashes have so far reached only regions located 12 kilometers from Ngadas Village, Poncokusumo Sub-district, Malang District, East Java Province.

Local residents were not yet affected by the volcanic ashes which had not reached distant areas and they remained doing  their normal activities,  Poncokusumo Sub-district Chief Dwi Ilham said here Wednesday.

The information on the raised status of Mount Bromo was disseminated among local residents by cellphone short text messages. However,  residents were not affected by the volcanic ashes as Ngadas Village was located 15 kilometers from Mount Bromo, he said.

"I was informed through a short text from a member of the Vulcanological team that the volcanic ashes from Mount Bromo have  reached areas located three kilometers from the mountain's crater. Moreover, Ngadas Village is located 12 kilometers from the crater," he said.

Ngadas  was a  Malang District village located the closest to  Mount Bromo, he said, adding that there were other villages close to the volcano, namely Ngadisari and Cemorolawang, but they  were located in Probolinggo District.

Around 1,200 people residing in Ngadas Village were not too worried about the raised status of Mt Bromo as the volcanic ashes were  still far away, he said.

The residents were asked to wear masks when doing outdoor activities to prevent inhaling the volcanic ashes when reachd Ngadas Village, he said.

According to Dwi, Ngadas Village was quite protected as the village was located on higher ground, while Mount Bromo was located at a lower level.  Volcanic ashes from  Mount Bromo were rarely  blown  upward and usually  to the right or left side of the volcano so that  Ngadas Viilage was considered to be the safest place as the village was located on higher ground, Dwi said.(*)