REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LUBUKBASUNG -- The West Sumatra provincial disaster mitigation board (BPBD) has ordered efforts to vacate areas located within a 3-km radius of Mount Marapi's crater as the volcano is still on the caution alert level.

"The status of the volcano remains unchanged based upon a report from the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG)," BPBD chief Yazid Fadhli said while attending a function marking the 95th anniversary of the National Fire Fight Day here on Monday.

Therefore, the residents of Agam district, Tanah Datar district and Padang Panjang municipality who live near Mount Marapi must increase their alertness, he said.

Nearly 30,000 residents live within a 5-km radius of the crater and 50,000 residents live within a 7-km radius of it, he said.

"If the status of Mount Marapi is raised from the third to second highest alert level, residents living within a 5-km radius of the crater must be evacuated to safer areas," he said.

To that end, he expressed hope the governments of Agam district, Tanah Datar district and Bukittinggi municipality would coordinate in making evacuation routes, evacuation locations and simulation.

The coordination is needed to minimize casualties in case of eruption, he said.

"This is an urgent need in those regions," he said.

He said Mount Marapi is one of four volcanoes of type A in the province. The others are Mount Talang, Mount Kerinci and Mount Tandikek. The province also has four volcanoes of type B, namely Mount Talamau, Mount Singgalang, Mount Sago and Mount Pasaman.

Volcanoes of type A often spew hot clouds, he said.

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