Villagers are being allowed to return home, but warned they could be evcuated again [Reuters]

The unpredictability of the volcano however means it will remain on the second highest alert level.

Local officials are now allowing residents to return to their homes along the slopes of the mountain in East Java.

The revised status comes two days after experts warned of an imminent eruption as a magma dome formed under Mount Kelud's crater lake, causing boiling water to spill down its sides.

Soaring temperatures in the lake also damaged monitoring equipment used to gauge activity on the mountain.

Umar Rosadi, a member of the monitoring team, however warned that "a sudden increase" in volcanic activity was still possible.

"People must be ready to be evacuated again," he said.

Mount Kelud was on maximum alert three weeks ago. Tens of thousands of villagers were moved to government shelters outside the danger zone near the 1,731-metre peak, but any had ignored the warnings and stayed home.

The volcano has a deadly history of killing at least 30 people in its most recent eruption in 1990. About 5,000 people died when it erupted in 1919, spewing boiling water from its crater lake.

Indonesia has the highest number of active volcanoes in the world, sitting on an active seismic belt known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: