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Indonesian volcano glows, spews ash
Source: Agencies |
September 8, 2010, Wednesday
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AN Indonesian volcano shot a towering cloud of black ash high into the air yesterday, dusting villages 25 kilometers away in its most powerful eruption since awakening last week from four centuries of dormancy.
Some witnesses at the foot of Mount Sinabung reported seeing an orange glow - presumably magma - in cracks along the volcano's slopes for the first time. Vast swaths of trees and plants were caked with a thick layer of ash.
"There was a huge, thunderous sound. It sounded like hundreds of bombs going off at one," said Ita Sitepu, 29, who was among thousands of people staying in crowded emergency shelters well away from the base. "Then everything starting shaking. I've never experienced anything like it."
Mount Sinabung's first eruption last week caught many scientists off guard. With more than 129 active volcanoes to watch in this vast archipelago, local volcanologists had failed to monitor the long-quiet mountain for rising magma, slight uplifts in land and other signs of seismic activity.
Indonesia is a seismically charged region because of its location on the so-called "Ring of Fire" - a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
There are fears that current activity could foreshadow a much more destructive explosion in the coming weeks or months, though it is possible, too, that Sinabung will go back to sleep after letting off steam.
More than 30,000 people living along the volcano's fertile slopes have been relocated to cramped refugee camps, mosques and churches in nearby villages. But some have insisted on returning to the danger zone to check on their homes and crops.
The government sent dozens of trucks to the mountain to help carry them back before yesterday's eruption, which sent ash and debris shooting 5,000 meters into the air, said Surono, who heads the nation's volcano alert center.
Surono, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name, said activity was definitely on the rise: There were more than 80 volcanic earthquakes in the 24-hour lead-up to the blast, compared to 50 on Friday.
Some witnesses at the foot of Mount Sinabung reported seeing an orange glow - presumably magma - in cracks along the volcano's slopes for the first time. Vast swaths of trees and plants were caked with a thick layer of ash.
"There was a huge, thunderous sound. It sounded like hundreds of bombs going off at one," said Ita Sitepu, 29, who was among thousands of people staying in crowded emergency shelters well away from the base. "Then everything starting shaking. I've never experienced anything like it."
Mount Sinabung's first eruption last week caught many scientists off guard. With more than 129 active volcanoes to watch in this vast archipelago, local volcanologists had failed to monitor the long-quiet mountain for rising magma, slight uplifts in land and other signs of seismic activity.
Indonesia is a seismically charged region because of its location on the so-called "Ring of Fire" - a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
There are fears that current activity could foreshadow a much more destructive explosion in the coming weeks or months, though it is possible, too, that Sinabung will go back to sleep after letting off steam.
More than 30,000 people living along the volcano's fertile slopes have been relocated to cramped refugee camps, mosques and churches in nearby villages. But some have insisted on returning to the danger zone to check on their homes and crops.
The government sent dozens of trucks to the mountain to help carry them back before yesterday's eruption, which sent ash and debris shooting 5,000 meters into the air, said Surono, who heads the nation's volcano alert center.
Surono, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name, said activity was definitely on the rise: There were more than 80 volcanic earthquakes in the 24-hour lead-up to the blast, compared to 50 on Friday.
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