JP\/5\/volcano<\/p>\n
Mt. Soputan erupts again, spewing hot ash, smoke<\/p>\n
Jongker Rumthe
\nand Ruslan Sangadji
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Manado\/Palu<\/p>\n
Mount Soputan in Tomohon, some 25 kilometers from the North
\nSulawesi capital of Manado, belched blue smoke to a height of
\nabout 600 meters and spewed hot ash and lava, officials said on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
The eruption occurred at around 4 p.m. on Monday, but the
\nactivity of the 1,830-meter volcano reportedly decreased on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Ash and smoke from the volcano covered several parts of nearby
\nMinahasa regency and damaged hundreds of plantations along the
\nmountain's slopes.<\/p>\n
No injuries were reported in the incident, nor were villagers
\nordered to evacuate the area.<\/p>\n
Clouds of ash disrupted the daily activities of residents in
\nWest Langowan district, where visibility fell to between 10
\nmeters and 30 meters.<\/p>\n
Motorists switched on their headlights during the day due to
\nthe poor visibility, and most residents stayed home.<\/p>\n
Landy Aruperes, a West Langowan district official, said local
\nhomes were covered by up to four centimeters of volcanic ash.<\/p>\n
The smoke did not reach Manado because of a westerly wind,
\nwhich pushed the smoke to Palu in neighboring Central Sulawesi
\nprovince, where visibility decreased to seven kilometers.<\/p>\n
\"Based on our investigation, the haze came from Mount
\nSoputan,\" Ibnu Sofwan Lukito, a volcanologist in Palu, told The
\nJakarta Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He added the haze arrived at 10 a.m. in the city, but had not
\ndisrupted flights to and from Palu.<\/p>\n
Head of Mount Soputan volcano monitoring center Jemmy
\nRuntuwene said in Tomohon that the status of the volcano was
\nraised on Monday to above normal.<\/p>\n
\"We are continuing to monitor the volcanic activity. Our
\nseismograph recorded five to 20 tremors on Monday. Normally,
\nvolcanic quakes only occur about five times,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soputan last erupted on Aug. 18, 2003, belching black smoke up
\nto a height of 1,600 meters over the crater and spewing hot ash
\nand other volcanic materials across nearby areas. No casualties
\nwere reported.<\/p>\n
Another volcano monitoring center official, Juhdi Juhara, said
\non Tuesday that compared to Monday, the mountain had calmed.<\/p>\n
\"(Monday), the pillar of smoke and ash reached up to 600
\nmeters high and spread up to dozens of kilometers away. But
\ntoday, the volcano spewed smoke and ash of only up to 300 meters
\nfrom the crater,\" Juhdi added.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has the world's highest density of volcanoes with
\n500 located in a so-called \"Belt of Fire\" along the 4,800
\nkilometers of archipelago. Of these, 128 are active, with 65
\nlisted as dangerous.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5volcano-1447899208",
"image": ""
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