Thousands flee Indonesia volcano

JAKARTA – Thousands of people were evacuated from the slopes of a volcano in eastern Indonesia after it spewed hot clouds of smoke, ash and rocks for a second day, officials said yesterday.

Mount Gamkonora’s alert has been raised to the highest level, meaning a major eruption could occur within days or weeks, said Saut Simatupang, who is monitoring activities of the volcano on Halmahera island. Seismic activity at the 1 635-metre mountain increased sharply on Monday and two major eruptions were recorded early yesterday, shooting debris 3 000 metres into the air, he said.There have been no reports of damage or casualties, Simatupang said, with some 8 400 villagers evacuated to safer areas in the last 24 hours and northward winds blowing smoke away from residential areas.Halmahera, is about 2 400 kilometres northeast of Jakarta.Indonesia has more active volcanoes than any other nation because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” -a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.Nampa-APSeismic activity at the 1 635-metre mountain increased sharply on Monday and two major eruptions were recorded early yesterday, shooting debris 3 000 metres into the air, he said.There have been no reports of damage or casualties, Simatupang said, with some 8 400 villagers evacuated to safer areas in the last 24 hours and northward winds blowing smoke away from residential areas.Halmahera, is about 2 400 kilometres northeast of Jakarta.Indonesia has more active volcanoes than any other nation because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” -a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.Nampa-AP