'€œThere has been a 100 percent increase in the number of those displaced. The number is now at least 11,618 from 19 villages,'€ he said Sunday.

Jhonson said to handle the evacuees, the Karo administration had prepared 26 shelters with supplies. Of the total, 22 are already full.

Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) head Hendrasto said Mt Sinabung's most recent eruption prompted the body to raise the volcano's status on Sunday to the highest level, "siaga" or "red alert".

'€œThis is Sinabung's highest level of activity. The intensity of the eruptions continues to increase,'€ said Hendrasto.

He said that at 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, Sinabung was continuing to spew a column of ash up to 8 kilometers high.

With the raised alert status, Hendrasto said, people living in areas within a 5-kilometer radius of the Sinabung crater must be evacuated.

Head of the North Sumatra health agency Raden Roro Siti Hatati Surjantini urged people in regencies and municipalities near Mt Sinabung to keep on guard against the health risks of volcanic ash.

Surjantini advised people to wear face masks and sun glasses when they were outside their homes and to limit their outdoor activities.

Surjantini said the agency had distributed 180,000 face masks, medicine and 4 tons of baby formula to relief posts in Karo regency. (ebf)

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