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Holidaymakers flee Karo regency as Mt. Sinabung erupts
Thousands of tourists fled Berastagi in Karo regency, North Sumatra, as nearby Mount Sinabung erupted on Sunday afternoon.
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A police officer gives a dust mask to a motorcyclist in Kutabuluh village, Karo regency, North Sumatra on Monday, Jun. 10 following Mount Sinabung's latest eruption. The eruption spewed a 7,000-meter-high column of volcanic ash and hot gas on Sunday. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
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housands of tourists fled Berastagi in Karo regency, North Sumatra, as nearby Mount Sinabung erupted on Sunday afternoon.
The tourists, who had been visiting during this year’s Idul Fitri holiday, left Berastagi at the first sign of volcanic eruption from Mt. Sinabung, about 23 kilometers away from the city.
Data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) shows that Mt. Sinabung spewed volcanic ash 7,000 meters high. The alert level for Mt. Sinabung was previously raised to siaga (watch) status, or Level III of the four-tiered volcano alert system.
Yuwarna Ramadhani, a 45-year-old tourist from Gayo Lues regency in Aceh, said she became worried about her family’s safety as she saw a tall column of dark volcanic ash rising from Mount Sinabung.
“It was terrifying; the volcanic ash felt extremely close to where we were then. We couldn’t help but panic. We didn’t expect the volcano to erupt during the Idul Fitri holiday,” Yuwarna told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Tikno, a tourist from neighboring Pematangsiantar in North Sumatra, immediately drove his family out of Berastagi as Mt. Sinabung began spewing volcanic ash. He thought that the eruption would reach the city in a matter of hours.
“I was afraid that my family would inhale the volcanic ash, so we immediately drove home,” Tikno said.
Meanwhile, Jakfar Wijaya, a Medan resident who had been visiting his in-laws in Semangat village in Karo regency, said he was trapped until 6:20 p.m. as the volcanic ash drifted toward the village.
“I was still trapped in the village when it rained soot,” Jakfar said.
Armen Putera, one of the officers in charge of monitoring volcanic activity at Mt. Sinabung, said Sunday’s eruption also released a pyroclastic flow of hot gas. He said it was the first time Mt. Sinabung had spewed hot gas since last year.
“There was quite a high concentration of hot gas drifting as far as 3.5 km to the southeast and 3 km to the south,” he told the Post.
Armen went on to say that the latest eruption, which lasted for nine minutes and 17 seconds, did not affect the alert level that remained at siaga as of Sunday.
“Although the alert level remains unaffected, we still urged tourists and visitors to leave the villages in a 3 to 5 km radius from Mt. Sinabung,” he said, while calling on the public to wear dust masks during possible ash rain.
Mt. Sinabung erupted for the first time this year in May after being dormant for about a year, spewing ash 2,000 meters into the air in a northeast direction.
Sinabung roared back to life in 2010 for the first time in 400 years. After another period of inactivity it erupted once more in 2013 and has remained highly active since.
In 2016, seven people died during one of Sinabung's eruptions, while a 2014 eruption left 16 people dead.
Indonesia is home to about 130 volcanoes because of its position in the Ring of Fire, a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs. (rfa)
