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Fears of an eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Kelud have resulted in the evacuation of thousands of local residents.

The volcano, 90km southwest of Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, prompted a warning that it could erupt within 24 hours.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 100,000 people from a 10km zone near the 5,712ft volcano, the National Agency for Disaster Management said.

However, as of Wednesday, many residents had flouted evacuation orders and stayed in their homes around the Javanese volcano.

Surono, head of Indonesia’s centre for volcanology and geological hazard mitigation, said: “The volcano is still on highest alert. I advise people to stay in the shelters and to be patient.”

Another official said the number of volcanic quakes had dropped from around 500 on Tuesday to 61 on Wednesday morning, but said that did not mean an eruption could be ruled out.

“In fact, it may erupt in two or three days after there are quakes,” Simatupang, head of the vulcanological survey, said.

“The volcano may be storing energy for a blow out.”

Ring of fire

In Kampung Anyar, about 7km from the crater and within a zone deemed by authorities as dangerous, many villagers were at home.

Marsudi, a resident in the village, who evacuated and then returned to his home, said: “It’s not certain if Mount Kelud would ever go off. My parents and my siblings are at home at the moment. I’m going off to see some friends.

“Whenever we’re asked to evacuate, we will do so. But we came back simply because nothing happened,” he said.

When Kelud last erupted in 1990, around 30 people were killed and in 1919 about 5,000 died as it ejected scalding water from its crater lake.

Indonesia, which sits on a belt of intense seismic activity known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, has had a series of major volcanic eruptions over the centuries.