T

he volcanic activity of Mount Soputan in North Sulawesi has continued to escalated in the past several days, producing volcanic ash that has blanketed surrounding regions and led to the temporary closure of the province'€™s biggest airport.

State airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I, which manages Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, closed the airport from 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday until 6 a.m. on Wednesday as volcanic ash threatened flights.

'€œVolcanic ash from the Mt. Soputan eruption covered the flight zone and endangered flights. We closed the airport for the safety of flights,'€ said airport general manager Halendra Waworuntu, adding that seven domestic flights had been affected by the closure.

Halendra added that volcanic ash had yet to disrupt incoming and outgoing international flights from Australia because the height was only 12,000 feet, which was lower than the elevation preferred by international flights of between 31,000 and 40,000 feet.

The wind is blowing eastward, so volcanic ash has only slightly disrupted flights to the east, such as to Ternate in North Maluku and Sorong in Papua, he said.

'€œDespite the slight disruption, the airport reopened on Wednesday morning at 6 a.m.,'€ said Halendra.

Although the airport reopened on Wednesday morning, Manado Airport Authority head Widyo Praptono said his office continued to monitor the volcanic ash emission from Mt. Soputan.

A number of eruptions took place on Tuesday and discharged volcanic materials up to 6,500 meters westward.

The volcano, located on the border between Southeast Minahasa and South Minahasa regencies, erupted on Monday at 8:53 p.m. local time and spewed ash 2,000 meters high and molten lava down the eastern slope.

Heavy rain drenched the regencies on Tuesday night, cleaning thick ash from houses and turning into mud. Motorists have had to be cautious passing the slippery roads.

'€œIt was not easy to clean the ash from the yard and plants,'€ Marthin, a Noongan resident, was quoted as saying by kompas.com.

Many plants, such as corn and tomato, had been flattened by the weight of the thick dust, Marthin said.

Farmers in South Tonsewer subdistrict, West Tompaso district claimed that they had to harvest their plants to avoid further damage.

'€œIf we do not harvest the onions will blacken and rot,'€ said Novy Sengey, one of the residents.

A farmer in Noongan village, West Langowan district, Jolly Mewengkang, said he was forced to frequently water his tomatoes on his 3,000-square-meter farm because of the shower of volcanic ash.

'€œSo far I have spent about Rp 5 million (US$370) for crop maintenance. Hopefully, they will not be damaged,'€ said Jolly, adding that his tomato plants were one-and-a-half months old and had already borne fruit.

Separately, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said evacuation was not necessary as yet.

'€œResidents are carrying out activities as usual,'€ he said.

The closest village, according to Sutopo, is located 8 kilometers from the mountain peak.

He also urged residents not to carry out activities within a 4-km radius of the mountain peak.

The areas worst hit by the ash are in West Langowan district (Noongan, Tumaratas and Kota Langowan villages), West Tompasa district (Ton Ura, Ton Ure 2, Ton Sawang, South Ton Sawang, Pinabetengan, South Pinabetengan and North Pinabetengan villages) and East Ratahan district (Pangu, Pangu I, Pangu 2 and Kalatin villages).