Volcano Fear after EarthQuake, Indonesia

Death toll in Indonesia after the earthquake yesterday tops 3000 and fears for more.
Nearby Mt Merapi also continues to spew ash and lava and it is feared that the volcano might erupt. The Guardian reports.

The quake was the worst to hit Indonesia since the one that resulted in the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004, which left 170,000 people dead or missing on the northern tip of Sumatra.[Source: The Guardian]

But the earthquake seem to have no links with the volcanic activity. Experts say that the earthquake has no ties to the volcanic activity at Mt. Merapi.

Many people wondered whether the devastating quake was related to the extremely high volcanic activity of Mt. Merapi, the Jakarta Post daily reported on Sunday.

However, a researcher at the National Coordinating Agency for Surveys and Mapping, Priyadi Kartono, said Merapi's stirrings had nothing to do with the earthquake despite its close proximity to the quake's epicenter, some 38 kilometers south of densely populated Yogyakarta.

"Mount Merapi cannot generate a tectonic quake, but the quake can affect the activity inside the volcano," said Priyadi. [source]