Mount Egon active again after Monday's calm, observer says<\/p>\n
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara<\/p>\n
Mount Egon in East Nusa Tenggara province (NTT) has shown
\nincreased signs of activity over the last two days, spewing out
\nsand, rock, fumes and sulfuric ash, an official said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
An earth tremor lasting about one minute, followed by a huge
\nexplosion, occurred on Tuesday night, after the volcano had
\ntemporarily showed decreasing signs of activity on Monday, said
\nYoseph Suryanto, a volcano monitor.<\/p>\n
The volcano came to life again last Saturday and Sunday,
\nfollowing an eruption in February of this year.<\/p>\n
Despite the current increase in activity, the local
\nadministration and volcano monitors have yet to issue an alert.
\n\"The explosion this time was bigger and longer, around one minute
\nin duration. The noise, and some of the materials discharged by
\nthe volcano, reached Maumere to the southwest of Mount Egon,\"
\nYoseph Suryanto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Mid-level gas pressures within the earth could have been the
\ncause of the heightened activity over the past two days, said
\nSuryanto. Residents have been urged not to panic as the situation
\nwas not yet considered dangerous.<\/p>\n
After the recent explosion, hundreds of residents from Egon
\nGahar and Hale villages, who had previously opted to stay put,
\nfinally decided to abandon their homes on Wednesday. The total
\nnumber of refugees amounted to more than 1,000, and they were
\ngiven accommodation in several school buildings and the community
\nhall in nearby Natakoli village, as well as the Bola district
\noffice.<\/p>\n
Sikka Health Office director Dr. Ignatius Henyo Kerong told
\nreporters in Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara, that the
\nlevel of sulfur emissions over the past two days had exceeded the
\n9.7 percent level, which could cause brain damage.<\/p>\n
\"The chance of lung infections is greater, however,\" he said.<\/p>\n
More than five centimeters of sulfuric ash has descended on
\nareas around the volcano. Most trees are covered in ash and local
\nroads, previously full of potholes, have been rendered smooth by
\nthe gray carpet.<\/p>\n
Mount Egon is one of many Type B active volcanoes in
\nIndonesia. Its crater is 525 meters X 425 meters in diameter, and
\nhas a depth of between 47.5 meters and 195 meters. It stands
\n1,701 meters above sea level.<\/p>",
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