TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Mount Sinabung erupts again, triggers more quakes
More volcanic earthquakes occurred on Saturday around Mount Sinabung in Karo regency, North Sumatra, a day after the latest eruptions, the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) said
Change Size
M
ore volcanic earthquakes occurred on Saturday around Mount Sinabung in Karo regency, North Sumatra, a day after the latest eruptions, the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) said.
After showing no significant volcanic activity for more than four centuries, the volcano erupted last Sunday, but recorded its third and largest eruption on Friday morning. Sinabung erupted again later that day at 5:59 p.m.
Based on PVMBG data, over 52 quakes triggered by the eruptions had been recorded between midnight and 12 noon on Saturday.
Although the volcano appeared calm, it was experiencing increasing seismographic activity after Friday’s eruptions, the center’s chief Surono said.
“We should remain alert because the quakes from Mt. Sinabung’s activity might cause energy to accumulate inside the volcano,” he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, adding that the volcano, which continued to spew harmful ash, was still on “top alert” status and would remain under intensive monitoring.
“We don’t want to speculate, but so far we recommend that residents living and working within a 6-kilometer radius of the active crater should evacuate,” Surono said.
Six days after the first eruption, thousands of refugees were warned of the danger of possible lava flows when rain falls on the mountain’s slopes.
“We have issued this warning because rain has been falling regularly on the slopes of Mt. Sinabung after last Sunday’s eruption,” Iman K Sinulingga of the PVMBG said, as quoted by Antara on Saturday.
Health conditions for residents staying in makeshift shelters are worsening even while relief aid continued to pour in.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to North Sumatra on Monday morning to directly inspect the disaster site, detiknews.com reported.
The number of refugees requiring treatment at health posts reached 111, the Karo Health Office reported on Saturday.
Most of the sick residents, aged between two and 75 years, were suffering from respiratory infections, diarrhea and eye irritation.
Health problems were caused by cold weather and ash coming from the mountain, Karo Health Office chief Diana Elita Ginting said.
“The shelters are located in open space without walls. This situation jeopardizes the refugees’ health, especially since many of them are sleeping on thin mats with inadequate blankets,” she said.
Given the limited number of available spaces, there are few options other than to place thousands of refugees in open spaces, such as in Jambul field, which is normally used to host traditional festivals, Karo regency administration secretary Makmur Ginting, said.
The number of residents staying at the shelters is difficult to confirm because many people check their
on homes during the daytime and return to the shelters at night, he said.
“The number of refugees varies. Yesterday [Friday], some 24,000 stayed in the shelter, but today there were only 21,700. Some returned home for a while but later come back to shelters,” Makmur said.
Resident Kemta Karo-Karo said he briefly returned to his home in Brastagi to check his house and livestock because he feared looting and burglary.
Karo-Karo said he has no plan to take his family home if the volcano is still active.
“I just returned home for while, and thank God, everything is in good condition,” said the 34-year-old man.
