GINEM was not anxious at all when the status on Mount Merapi was raised from cautious to alert on Thursday two weeks ago. As if there were nothing out of the ordinary, this villager of Babadan in Magelang, was gathering firewood on the slope of Merapi.

“The people here are used to it, we don’t worry about it,” said Ginem, 40. In fact, Babadan is just 4.4 kilometers northwest of Merapi. She and most other residents of Babadan felt convinced