Island volcano erupts, islanders flee to safety

Island volcano erupts, islanders flee to safety

JAKARTA (JP): A loud explosion from Mt. Sakura yesterday shook the people of the Togian Islands in the Gorontalo Bay in Central Sulawesi, where fears of a greater eruption grow by the day.

In total, Mt. Sakura, an island volcano near the Unauna island, has erupted 18 times since it was first heard on Friday, Antara reported yesterday.

At least 1,000 people living on the island of Unauna and on the slopes of the Sakura have been evacuated to Togian Island, the news agency said, adding that there have been deaths reported.

The loud explosion in the early hours yesterday came with a tremor which the meteorology office in Ujungpandang, the capital of South Sulawesi, measured at 4.8 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the quake was estimated to be in the Sulawesi Sea.

The Sakura has also been belching thick black smoke and ashes since the first eruption on Friday. By yesterday, the smoke was covering most of the islands in the Togian group of islands.

The smoke has made sailing in the area highly dangerous because of the poor visibility, the news agency quoted Lt. Col Marsudhi Hanafi, the chief of the Poso Regency police overseeing the Togian Islands.

Marsudhi said the local administration has also asked Jakarta to send a volcanology team to the location, to assess the extent of the danger and the likelihood of a powerful eruption.

The Sakura last erupted in 1983, after which most of the volcano sank under the sea.

Marsudhi said he had ordered all his officers in the area to be on alert as the situation deteriorates.

The Central Sulawesi province was the site of a major natural disaster early this month when a tidal wave swept the western coast of the province, killing eight people and destroying hundreds of houses. A tidal wave then followed a powerful earthquake in the Sulawesi Sea. (imn)