Jakarta, Oct 29 (AP) Indonesian authorities have loweredthe alert status of Bali's Mount Agung volcano from thehighest level following a significant decrease in activity.
More than 140,000 people fled Mount Agung after its alertstatus was raised to the highest level September 22.
Kasbani, a government volcanologist who uses just onename, said today that the decision to downgrade Agung's statuswas made after several scientific indicators showed itsactivities were decreasing drastically.
He said the radius of the volcano's danger zone declinedfrom 12 kilometers to 7.5 kilometers from Agung's crater.
The government volcano agency said the downgrade meansvillagers who evacuated but do not live in the new danger zonecould return home, but should not venture close to the crater,which is still emitting smoke. (AP)DPB.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.