Around 400 police in Ngancar district near the volcano tried on Thursday night to escort people to shelters.

"We turned off the lights so that the police thought we had left," said Sugiyem, a 30 year-old from Sugihwaras, a village 8 km from the crater that suffered casualties and was badly damaged during an eruption in 1990.

"I am afraid of the mountain erupting but so far there have been no signs," she added, referring to a common local belief about natural phenomena pointing to an eruption.

"The trees near the crater are still green, animals such as monkeys, snakes and hogs haven't come down. Also, there are stars in the sky. If the mountain erupts, it will be cloudy."

Sugiyem and her family were, however, finally made to leave by police.

Saut Simatupang, an official at Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, said there had been five shallow volcanic earthquakes on Friday morning.

The number of volcanic quakes has fallen in recent days from more than 500 on Tuesday, although officials said this did not necessarily mean that an eruption would not occur.

"We cannot tell when it will erupt. It (the alert) is still on the highest level."

The official said the volcano's normally green crater lake was still partly white in colour, indicating the presence of sulphur.

Despite the pressure to evacuate, many locals have been reluctant to leave possessions untended and have complained about inadequate food and shelter provided in safer zones.

An estimated 350,000 people live within 10 km of the volcano and when it last erupted in 1990 at least 30 people were killed.

In 1919, about 5,000 died as Kelud 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.