TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Eka Muharram, Head of the Logistics and Emergency Response for Banyuwangi's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said that 23 villages across six districts will be affected if Mount Raung erupts.

"Around 200,000 people reside in the potentially affected area," said Eka, who explained that Mount Raung's volcanic activity has continued to increase in the past couple of days.

According to Eka, the area that is most vulnerable to an eruptive even remains near the proximity of the crater, which means that a mass evacuation is yet to be required. "Mount Raung's deep crater means that the lava is unlikely to overflow to the surrounding areas," said Eka on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

Banyuwangi, Jember and Bondowoso Regencies' BPBD will continue to coordinate their efforts to monitor the volcanic activities, as well as to develop a proper mitigation plan to minimize the impact on local residents. Eka said that the first meeting will be held on July 1, 2015, at Banyuwangi Regency's Government Headquarter.

Despite the increasing volcanic activity, residents around the area are not alarmed by the event - especially considering that the 3,382 meters high volcano has shown since of increased activity since 2012.

A resident of Songon Village in Banyuwangi, Ari Restu, said that residents are so used to the thunderous sound emitted by Mount Raung. "We have grown accustomed to such activities," said Ari to Tempo on Tuesday.

According to Ari, his village - which is located around 10 kilometers away from Mount Raung - has yet to be affected by ash clouds. In fact, overcast conditions which has persisted for the past couple of days have prevented residents from seeing the column of smoke - which spans some 300 meters above the crater.

That said, continued Ari, some residents have seen flames originating from the lava, although many similar reports have been heard since the volcano began showing signs of increased activities three years ago.

It is known that the Center for Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) has raised Mount Raung's status from 'Caution' (Level II) to 'Alert' (Level III) on Monday, June 29, 2015 at 09:00 AM local time.

Since June 21, Mount Raung continues to exhibit increasing signs of seismic activities - including one volcanic earthquake, four local tectonic earthquakes, and 18 tectonic earthquakes, which could be felt from afar.

The volcano has also been spewing columns of smoke and lava from its' dome.

IKA NINGTYAS