Indonesia late Tuesday raised the status of a volcano on Java island to the highest alert level and recommended people evacuate the area immediately. Officials have advised residents living within a 10-kilometre (6.2-mile) radius of Mount Kelut to leave, with the Indonesian volcanology and geology disaster management centre saying the highest alert level status meant "an eruption is possible within 24 hours."
The agency said on its website it raised the alert level "based on the seismic activity, deformation, visual observation and temperature of crater lake... at 17.15 WIB, 16 October 2007."
The 5,679-foot Mount Kelud is one of the most active volcanoes in the world's largest archipelagic nation and last erupted in 1990. In 1919, a powerful explosion destroyed a hundred villages and killed 5,160 people.