3 p.m. local time on Saturday, 3 November 2007. The eruption was confirmed by the Indonesian government's Centre for Vulcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. Although no visual confirmation was possible when the eruption began because the volcano's peak was shrouded by clouds, Indonesian government volcanologists said seismic readings showed an eruption was under way. More than 350,000 people lived within of the volcano. Surabaya, Indonesia's third-largest urban area and home to one of the country's busiest airports, is to the northwest. Although local inhabitants were ordered to leave their homes in mid-October, many either did not evacuate or returned in the interim. Many villagers were reported fleeing the area in panic after reports of the eruption. But by early Saturday evening, Indonesian officials said the eruption that day had not been very large at all. Seismological equipment near the volcano's crater was still operating, and scientists said that indicated a small eruption at best. However, early Sunday morning, 4 November, Mount Kelud spewed ash into the air, indicating a full eruption was taking place. "The eruption isn't over," Saut Simatupang, head of Indonesian Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Agency, said. Seismologists monitoring the crater said surface temperatures in Mount Kelud's crater lake rose on 4 November to from on 3 November. At a depth of , the temperature jumped to on 4 November from on 3 November. The extreme heat created a cloud of steam and smoke high. On 5 November, new columns of smoke and steam erupted from the crater. Boiling water cascaded down the flanks of the mountain from the crater lake, and seismological equipment near the crater ceased working. Indonesian authorities said about 25,000 people remained in the danger zone, ignoring evacuation orders. The following day, a lava dome rose through the centre of the crater lake atop the mountain. Closed-circuit television cameras showed the long oblong island had pushed about above the surface of the lake. The volcano continued to emit smoke, with plumes reaching into the atmosphere. But after 48 hours of smoke and ash but no lava, Indonesian officials declared on 8 November that no eruption was immediate. Officials said the volcano was experiencing a "slow eruption" and was unlikely to explode as it had done many times in the past century. By 12 November, Mount Kelud began spewing lava into its crater lake. The lava dome, which had expanded to long and high,