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Wednesday 25 April 2012

INDONESIA’S MOUNT LOKON VOLCANO ERUPTS AGAIN, EVACUATION ORDERED



N. Sulawesi volcano erupts
By Sita W. Dewi, The Jakarta Post, 24 April 2012.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho: National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman. (Antaranews.com/Irsan Mulyadi)Sutopo Purwo Nugroho: National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman.
(Antaranews.com/Irsan Mulyadi)

North Sulawesi’s Mount Lokon erupted at 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, after several days of increased activity, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has announced.

The height at which lava shot out of the volcano was unknown because clouds were blocking the full view.

The agency declared areas within a 2.5 kilometres radius from the mountain’s peak dangerous and urged nearby residents to stay alert.

There are no residential areas within that zone.

However, the agency said that the residents living outside the zone do not need to evacuate yet.

“There might be other eruptions. We call on the residents to stay calm,” agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post.

Sutopo added that officers from the agency had been deployed to the area to assist local authorities.

Residents evacuated over eruption fears
By The Jakarta Post, 24 April 2012.

Local residents around Mount Lokon in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, have been asked to evacuate the area, following the mountain’s steady increase of activity since 4 p.m. Monday.

"We are on alert status [Level 3]," National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Monday.

"We ask that local disaster mitigation agencies follow the technical recommendations we have given them. There should be no community activity within a 2.5 kilometre radius of the volcano’s crater.”

Mt Lokon is located on the outskirts of Tomohon. It is 1,580 meters high and is located 20 kilometres west from Manado, North Sulawesi.

According to the Volcanic and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG), Mt Lokon last erupted on June 14, 2011, sending ash and debris 1,500 meters into the sky.

The following day, another eruption threw volcanic material 600 meters into the air. Two residents died as a result of the eruptions.

Other eruptions occurred in 1991 and 2001, with the earlier one causing Rp 1 billion (US$108,000) in damage, as well as the death of Swiss tourist Vivian Clavel.

The 2001 eruption covered Manado in ash and debris. The dust coming from the mountain formed a 400 meter plume. (png)



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