By DPA
Jakarta : Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano spewed smoke and flaming rocks hundreds of metres from its crater Wednesday although it was not in danger of erupting, an official said.
Anton — a government vulcanologist at a monitoring post near the volcano, which lies in the Sunda Strait between the Java and Sumatra islands — said its volcanic activity continued to fluctuate.
Anton, who like many Indonesians uses one name, said that since Tuesday evening, a river of lava and red-hot rocks had been sliding down the slopes as far as 400 metres from Anak Krakatoa’s crater.
Despite scientists stating that the volcano was not especially dangerous, Anton warned fishermen and visitors to stay beyond a three-km radius from the mountain because it would continue to rumble for some time.
The volcano’s sudden eruption in June 1994 killed one US tourist and injured three Britons and two Indonesians.
Anak Krakatau, which means “Child of Krakatau,” formed in the Sunda Strait after the disastrous eruption and explosion of Mount Krakatau in 1883, which triggered tsunamis and killed more than 36,000 people in what was then Dutch-controlled Indonesia. The eruption was among the largest recorded, and Anak Krakatau was born in its aftermath.
Indonesia has the highest density of volcanoes in the world, with about 500 along the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, where seismic and volcanic activity is common. Nearly 130 are active and 65 are listed as dangerous.