Indonesia has raised to maximum its alert on the Mount Semeru volcano in East Java, warning of potentially dangerous lava flows, an official at the country's vulcanology centre said on Saturday. The 3,376-metre (11,080-ft) Semeru is one of the most active volcanoes on Java island. Seven people were killed by the mountain's heat clouds in 1994. The alert status was raised on Friday afternoon after the number of volcanic quakes indicated there may be a bigger eruption, said Surono, head of the country's vulcanology centre. "We don't want to evacuate residents around the mountain, but we warn those carrying out activities such as sand mining to avoid rivers because of lava flows," said Surono, who goes by one name like many Indonesians, Reuters reported.
