Top alert for Indonesia volcano, villagers evacuate

[Gert van der Hoek]

Top alert for Indonesia volcano, villagers evacuate

20 Aug 2007 04:26:33 GMT

By Adhityani Arga

JAKARTA, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Lava and hot gas clouds have begun erupting from an Indonesian volcano, threatening hundreds of people living in nearby villages, an official said on Monday.

Saut Simatupang, the head of Indonesia's Vulcanology Survey, said nearly 600 people had evacuated their homes in an area south-east of Mount Karangetang.

Simatupang said the alert status for the volcano was raised to maximum at the weekend after hot clouds started moving eastwards, posing a threat to hundreds of people.

The 1,827 metre (5,994 feet) peak, on the diving resort island of Siau off Sulawesi and 2,325 km (1,445 miles) north-east of the capital Jakarta, is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes.

"At least hundreds of the 30,000 people living on the island are at grave risk," Simatupang said by telephone from his office in the city of Bandung.

"We have recommended evacuation for entire districts and we are pushing for the complete evacuation of at least two villages located 5 km (3 miles) from the volcano's crater."

Simatupang said he received reports saying lava had already spread more than 1 km down the volcano's slopes.

Another volcano 175 km south of Mount Karangetang has also been spewing ash and sending debris down its slopes.

But Simatupang said that Mount Soputan, which lies on the northern tip of the Sulawesi island, was no threat to nearby villages.

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".

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP89471.htm

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Top alert for Indonesia volcano, villagers evacuate

Lava, hot ash spews from Karangetang volcano in eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA (AP): Karangetan volcano in eastern Indonesia spewed hot lava and clouds of ash high into the air early Monday, a vulcanologist said, hours after hundreds of villagers living on its rumbling slopes were evacuated.

There were no reports of injuries or damage, said Yudi Satipang, a vulcanologist who has been monitoring Mount Karangetang on Siau island since it was placed on high alert over the weekend.

"It sounds like huge thunderclaps," he said of the booming gas blasts from the crater, adding that villages, farms and trees on the 1,700-meter (5,577-foot) -tall mountain were covered in thick gray ash.

Karangetang is one of Indonesia's most active mountains, and it has been rumbling for days.

Nearly 600 residents living within the danger zone have fled to safety, and many were seeking shelter in government buildings, schools and mosques.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Siau, a popular diving island, is part of the Sulawesi island chain. It lies some 2,325 kilometers (1,444 miles) northeast of the country's capital, Jakarta. (**)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20070820163931&irec=18

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Top alert for Indonesia volcano, villagers evacuate

Press release Min of Health, Indonesia

Karangetang Mount. Explosion at North Sulawesi : Drugs and MP-ASI Needed

22 Aug 2007

Based on information received by Center for Crisis Response MOH from district social & health office of Siau Tagulandang Biaro until August 20, 2007 at 12.00 a.m., health problems and responses caused by Karangetang Mt. explosion at Kep. Siau Tagulandang Biaro District, North Sulawesi are:

1. Main Problems

on August 10, 2007 at 04.02 p.m. (local time), Karangetang Mt. exploded

on August 18, 2007, activity status of Karangetang Mt. becomes beware.

on August 19, 2007 at between 00.00-04.00 a.m. (local time), Karangetang Mt. re-exploded some times with hot lava flowed through some villages, Karalung and Hiung Village.

2. Health Problems

There is no dead victim, while 539 people have been displaced to Pendopo Ulu (338 people or 133 families) and SD Karalung (201 people).

3. Responses

providing health services and coordinating with coordinating unit of Siau Tagulandang Biaro District and local government for further response.

4. Required Supports

operational cost, drugs, masks, complementary feeding (MP-ASI) and sanitation.

5. Conclusion

Until today, health problems are tackled by local health personnel. Meanwhile, district social & health office of Kep. Siau Tagulandang Biaro, center for crisis response of North Sulawesi regional and of MOH still supervise the situation.

http://www.depkes.go.id/en/2208ka.htm

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Top alert for Indonesia volcano, villagers evacuate

AFP News brief

Indonesians return to rumbling volcano

Hundreds of Indonesians evacuated from the slopes of a volcano began returning to work there Tuesday despite warnings it could still erupt, police and scientists said.

Mount Karangetang has been spewing lava and smoke since Friday, and authorities have said that searing clouds of debris could rush down its slopes at any time.

"It appears to have calmed down today (Tuesday). Last night there was still some booming but only once in a while, not like the continuous booms of previous days," said police officer Sutrisno.

He said the volcano on Siau island was still fuming but that most of the more than 500 people who had been evacuated from the two villages highest on its slopes had begun returning so they could work on their plantations.

"I just returned from the refugee shelter ... and it was nearly empty. Everyone has gone back to work on their mace and and clove plantations," he said.

Saud Situmorang from Indonesia's volcanology headquarters in Bandung said that although there appeared to be reduced activity at the volcano, an eruption warning was being maintained.

Lava from the volcano stretched a kilometre (half a mile) down its western flank on Monday. Mount Karangetang's last major eruption in 1974 forced the total evacuation of Siau.

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070821182942.twqwg0mb&cat=null