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By APD Writer Maverick
JAKARTA, Oct. 12 (APD) — Major eruption has took place in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province’s active volcano of Mount Sinabung on
Thursday morning, spewing hot lava, hot cloud, volcanic ashes and smoke that billowing 2 kilometers high into the air.
“The eruption took place on 02.45 a.m. this morning,” Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.
He added the eruption was marred with strong earthquake that lasted in 366 seconds. The hot cloud emitted from the eruption rattled down from the crater as far as 1,500 meters and 2,000 meters headed to the south and east-southwest parts respectively, he added.
The eruption was less severe as the wind blew mildly to east-southeast directions with rain of volcanic ashes occurred in several villages around the volcano.
Sutopo called on people living around rivers whose upstreams were from Mount Sinabung to take precautions stance in anticipating possible lava spill following the rain season which started to come these days.
Among the river that has the most potential risk from cold lava flood was Laborus River. Sutopo said that that heavy flood containing cold lava would potentially damage everything around the river, may break the dam in Laborus River.
“The dam could not withstand the continuous massive pressures from cold lava flood. It would endanger
those living in downstream part of the river,”
he added.
Sutopo said that disaster risk of Mount Sinabung would remain high as there is no single sign indicating that the volcano has receded its volcanic activities.
“The PVMBG would continue its intensive monitoring as we cannot predict when would the eruption would end,” he said.
Sutopo added that no one was injured or killed from Mount Sinabung’s latest eruption earlier in the day.
“People were already customized to see minor eruptions of Sinabung which occurred almost on daily basis since it was imposed with high alert status on June 2015,” Sutopo said, adding that the eruption did not prompt people to refuge.
The ensuing volcanic escalations in Mount Sinabung has created complicated problems for thousands of refugees who have been placed in several refugee shelters in the province’s regencies in the last few years.
As the hostile situation still remains with no one can predict when the volcano would recede its activities, central and regional governments are facing problem in providing adequate housing facilities for the future of the refugees.
Relocation housing clusters have been prepared to facilitate the refugees as they cannot return to their residences which are located in dangerous areas around the volcano.
The ensuing Mount Sinabung volcanic activities have displaced 7,270 lives from 2,101 families. They were now sheltered in 8 refugee camps.
At least 28 people have been killed from hot lava, hot cloud and volcanic materials spewed by Mount Sinabung since its escalation in 2013.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
