REUTERS, Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:25AM EDT
Indonesia on alert as volcano spits flaming rocks
(Adds quote from police in nearby town, official, details) By Adhityani Arga
JAKARTA, July 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Mount Gamkonora has started spitting out
flaming rocks and sending showers of sparks into the air, indicating the volcano in the
east of the country is likely to erupt, an official said on Wednesday.
Thousands of people living close to the volcano have been evacuated since it started
sending out towering columns of ash and smoke on Saturday, with panic reported in
some areas nearby. Flaming material started to appear on Tuesday evening,
indicating magma was approaching the crater's surface, said Saut Simatupang, head
of Indonesia's Vulcanological Survey. "The volcano spit flaming rock as high as 15
metres (50 ft) ... this indicates magma is now close to the crater's surface,"
Simatupang said by telephone from the town of Bandung. The official said in later
comments that the volcano may be building up to an eruption.
"The pressure seems to have lessened, but since we don't see any signs of the
volcano stopping. It may be collecting energy for a bigger blowout," he said. Clouds of
smoke and ash had grown thicker from midday on Wednesday, obscuring the
volcano. No casualties or damages have been reported, but authorities have placed
the highest alert level four on the forest-clad volcano since Sunday. Kalbi Rasid, a
local government spokesman, said some 8,600 people had already been moved away
from the mountain's slopes into three government shelters, but around 1,000 remained
to guard their houses.
"We have urged people to stay in shelters for another two days. There's less smoke,
but it doesn't mean the volcano is safe," Rasid said. The official said many of the
displaced suffered breathing problems and diarrhoea. A police officer from Jailolo, a
town 35 km (22 miles) from the mountain's slopes, said that the volcano had sparked
some panic in the area. "I've never seen so much smoke and ash rising from the
mountain before," the officer, who gave his name as Erwin, said before the telephone
line was cut off. The 1,635 metre volcano, about 2,400 km (1,491 miles) east of the
capital Jakarta in North Maluku province, is the highest peak on the island of
Halmahera.
Communications in the remote area are often patchy. The last time ash and smoke
streamed out of the volcano was in 1987, when no casualties were reported, although
a major eruption is said to have taken place in 1673. Indonesia has the highest
number of active volcanoes of any country, sitting on a belt of intense volcanic and
seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire". (Additional reporting by Telly
Nathalia)
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