JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 31 (UPI) - Two people were killed and six others, including two American scientists and an Israeli colleague, were injured when a volcano on the Indonesian island of Java burst and spewed lava, authorities said Monday.

The 12,066-foot Mount Semeru volcano in East Java, about 435 miles east of Jakarta, began spewing lava over the weekend as a group of eight volcanologists was conducting research.

Rescue teams said the two scientists killed were Indonesians. One of the two Americans, identified as Paul Timberly, was seriously injured, while the other five members of the group suffered minor injuries.

A local newspaper reported that rescuers had not been able to retrieve the injured or to remove the two bodies from Semeru's peak because of bad weather. The rescue operation was to resume later Monday, authorities said.

The scientists, from Indonesia's volcanology center on West Java, left on a research trip to Semeru last Wednesday, when the atmosphere was considered excellent and there were no signs of an impending lava burst, experts said. The two men killed, identified as Aseep Wildan and Mukti, were reportedly at the crater when it burst, and the force plunged them into a 30-foot-deep channel.

Java's 128 active volcanoes are the most of any island in the world, and its population density is twice that of Japan. In February 1994, hot lava from Semeru - classified as "dangerous" by those who study volcanoes - killed at least seven people.

Equation:
Sunspots = Solar Flares = Magnetic Shift = Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents = Extreme Weather

Mitch Battros Producer - Earth Changes TV http://www.earthchangesTV.com