Jakarta:
A volcano in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province erupted on Sunday, spewing ash and smoke as higher as 4 kilometers into the sky and forcing extra than 2,700 residents to seek refuge, the country’s disaster mitigation agency mentioned.
Indonesia has practically 130 active volcanoes, extra than any other nation, and even though quite a few show higher levels of activity it can be weeks or even months prior to an eruption.
Raditya Jati, a spokesman for the agency, mentioned in a statement that the eruption from the Mt. Ile Lewotolok volcano, about 2,600 kilometers east of Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta, had brought on panic amongst these living nearby.
About 2,780 persons from 26 villages had sought refuge, even though no casualties have so far been reported, Jati mentioned.
Muhammad Ilham, a 17-year-old who witnessed the eruption, told Reuters that resident nearby had been “panicked and they’re still looking for refuge and in need of money right now”.
Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center mentioned on its web site that the region close to the volcano is probably to be inundated with “hot clouds, lava stream, lava avalanche, and poisonous gas”.
Kasbani, the head of the center, told Reuters that the status of the volcano was raised to the second-highest level on Indonesia’s 4-tier alert program due to “increasing threats”.
There are only 3 other volcanoes with this level, the agency mentioned. These contain the Merapi volcano on the island of Java and Sinabung on Sumatra, which erupted this month.
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