WHILE volcanologists were patiently observing the increasing activity of Mount Kelud at the border between Kediri and Blitar, East Java, two other volcanoes erupted. Mount Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait erupted and formed a new crater while Mount Soputan in the north of Sulawesi spewed ash and red-hot lava.

Have Surono and his men at the Center of Volcanology & Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) of the Department of Energy & Mineral Reso