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Surabaya. The Sidoarjo Mudflow Management Agency said on Wednesday that it was closely monitoring a 500-meter fault line that has appeared in the middle of the Lapindo mud pool in Sidoarjo, East Java.

“The fault line is an indication that the shifting of the land around the source of the mud flow is very dynamic,” Achmad Zulkarnain, spokesman for the agency, also known as the BPLS, said on Wednesday.

The fissure, which appeared about six days ago, made it look like the wide expanse of mud contained by tall earthen embankments was now split in the middle with mud flowing towards the lower sector.

Zulkarnain dismissed concerns that the fault could undermine the strength of the embankment and endanger residents in the surrounding areas.

“It formed gradually and did not just suddenly appear.”

Although not dangerous, he said that the crack was hampering efforts to drain the mud into the Porong River.

“Due to the difference of levels, the mud flows to the northern side, which is lower, while the pumps are all on the southern side,” Zulkarnain said.

To measure land subsidence around the Lapindo mudflow site, BPLS has focused on 15 spots to monitor along the fault. Observations seems to show a dynamic shifting of the underlying land.

The agency also said that the most consistent and extreme subsidence occurred in the area where a now demolished toll road overpass had stood.

Although the area had already been raised by 80 centimeters last year, Zulkarnain said that recent observation showed that “there is a 45 cm subsidence in the area.”

The mudflow first began from a crack near an exploratory gas well owned by PT Lapindo Brantas, a Bakrie group company on May 29, 2006. It soon expanded into a mud lake, swallowing houses, factories and schools, leaving more than 15,000 people homeless.