Indonesia's Mount Lokon erupts three times, causing panic

Indonesia's Mount Lokon erupts three times, causing panic

2011-12-27 19:51:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Several eruptions at Mount Lokon on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Tuesday morning caused panic among local residents, local media reported. There were no casualties.

According to the country's Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG), the first eruption at Mount Lokon took place shortly after 3 a.m. local time. The eruption was quickly followed by two others.

Chief Farid Ruskanda Bina at PVMBG's local monitoring post in Tomohon told the Jakarta Post that Mount Lokon, which is located on the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, had been showing increased activity since Monday. The increased activity quickly accelerated on late Monday and early Tuesday morning.

From 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. local time, the center recorded at least 23 deep volcanic tremors, 40 shallow volcanic tremors, four blows and three eruptions.

PVMBG has a warning system with four levels of alerts: "Normal" (Level 1), "Waspada" (Level 2), "Siaga" (Level 3) and "Awas" (Level 4). As of Tuesday afternoon, Mount Lokon's alert level remains at 3 with an evacuation zone of about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 mile) from the volcano.

In mid-August, Mount Lokon began to spew volcanic ash which fell as far away as the Kinilow I village and the Tinoor areas in North Tomohon sub district, which is a short distance from Lokon's crater. And on August 28, Mount Lokon erupted as many as 12 times, followed by constant volcanic activity in the following weeks.

Dozens of active volcanoes in Indonesia are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Next to Mount Lokon is its volcanic twin, Mount Empung, just 2.2 kilometers (1.3 miles) away.

One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes is Mount Merapi, which is located on the island of Java near Jogjakarta, the country's second-most visited area after Bali. Last year, more than 300 people were killed in a series of eruptions between October and November which also displaced over 300,000 people.

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