Thousands Flee as Indonesian Volcano Rumbles

Reuters ^ | June 8th, 2004 | Emmy Zumaidar

[missyme]

JAKARTA (Reuters) - As many as 20,000 people have been evacuated from the slopes of an Indonesian volcano that hurled dust and dark smoke high into the sky on Tuesday in a sign it may be about to erupt.

Mount Awu on Sangihe island, some 1,400 miles northeast of Jakarta, began spewing ash last week and authorities put residents living on the island near the Philippines on the highest level of alert on Monday.

"There is a lot of smoke coming out, and there are indications that it will erupt," said Samuel Dalompha, an official of the Directorate of Volcanology based on the island, part of North Sulawesi province and site of the 4,330-foot volcano.

"Earthquakes are also happening continuously, although they are still not very strong."

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, sits astride the geologically active Pacific "ring of fire." It has more than 100 active volcanoes.

One of Indonesia's most famous volcanoes, Mount Bromo, on the main island of Java, also began belching smoke 1.8 miles into the air on Tuesday, prompting officials to raise the alert level there.

But they said the risk was not high enough to begin an evacuation of the popular tourist site.

Syamsul Rizal, a volcanology official on Sangihe island, said of Mount Awu: "There is continuous smoke and small stones being thrown up to 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) high from the volcano."

As of mid-morning, 20,000 villagers had been evacuated and the island's airport had been closed, said Dali Ahmad, the volcanology directorate's information chief.

"The mountain is belching gray-brown smoke. There is no report of lava coming out yet," said Ahmad from directorate headquarters in Bandung on Java island.

More than 80 percent of residents in dangerous areas had been evacuated, but some men had stayed to guard their villages, officials said.

Mount Awu, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, has erupted repeatedly since the 17th century. Nearly 3,000 people died when it blew up in 1812.

The volcano's last fatal eruption was in 1966 when 40 people were killed. It has erupted on a number of occasions since then.

[missyme]

We also have had 3 earthquakes today small the in the most common places Tehran and Japan, but Ardmore Oaklahoma?
Well Of course I am concerned living in Southern Cal were on earthquake alert since we have some monster one predicted before September...

[Lokibob]

 

SULAWESI (Sangihe Is.)
Volcano: AWU

Awu photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.

As of the 8th of June, the Directorate of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (DVGHM) reported that since 6 June 11.17 Local time(WITA) we upgraded AWU to level 4, and at 18.07 AWU erupted with black/grey ash cloud rose up about 1000 meters. Up to 20.00 tremors still occured and the peak to peak amplitude was 5 mm. About 10,000 Local people already evacuated to Tahuna and Peta. About 20,000 people have been evacuated from the slopes of a volcano in northern Indonesia, which is showing signs it is about to erupt. "Smoke" could be seen rising from Awu volcano early yesterday. The fleeing residents were sheltered in several school buildings and churches in Tahuna, a district town some 15 kilometers (9 miles) away. The volcano monitoring station on Sangihe Island has raised the alert status to the maximum level (RED). A large eruption is possible. The observatory reported the mountain has been emitting "flames" and thick smoke since the second week of May. The level of volcanic earthquakes have also intensified since early on Sunday.

The massive Mt. Awu stratovolcano occupies the northern end of Great Sangihe Island, the largest of the Sangihe arc. Deep valleys that form passageways for lahars dissect the flanks of the 1320-m-high volcano, which was constructed within a 4.5-km-wide caldera. Awu is one of Indonesia's deadliest volcanoes; powerful explosive eruptions in 1711, 1812, 1856, 1892, and 1966 produced devastating pyroclastic flows and lahars that caused more than 8000 fatalities. Awu contains a summit crater lake that was 1 km wide and 172 m deep in 1922, but was largely ejected during the 1966 eruption.

The Current Colour Code for volcano Awu is ALERT LEVEL 4.

The AWU volcano on Sangihie Is. (Indonesia) was not successfully forecasted by SWVRC's programme ERUPTION Pro 10.5 to erupt in 2004 as it had only a 39.92% probability of an event. Until this time, SWVRC has had no reliable data reports on this volcano.

[MineralMan]

"We also have had 3 earthquakes today small the in the most common places Tehran and Japan, but Ardmore Oaklahoma?
Well Of course I am concerned living in Southern Cal were on earthquake alert since we have some monster one predicted before September..."

---

It's not all that unusual for a small earthquake to occur in Oklahoma. I'm curious, though, as to who has predicted a monster earthquake before September. Do you remember where you heard that?

[missyme]

It was all over FR....I will see if I can find a link for you, but it was also in the mainstream news about a California Quake to hit before September...

[RightWhale]

The recent full moon generated some modest earthquake activity. It's been a while for major earthquakes, so maybe next full moon will see some major earthquakes including volcanoes.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Wow!

[MineralMan]

Here's the link about the September prediction. It was not for a "monster" quake, but for a 6.0 or greater.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080107/posts

[watchin]

It's Bush's fault.

[missyme]

6.0 or greater has done quite a bit of damage through out California, there are many areas that do not have earthquake proof buildings or homes, I would say 6.0 or stronger could be monster like...

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Ooops I forgot the caption.

A volcano in Indonesia spews lava. Indonesian authorities began evacuating villagers from the slopes of Mount Awu, an active volcano in northern Indonesia, after declaring a heightened state of alert, police and a vulcanologist said.(AFP/File/Patmawitana)

The Big Wu? Of Joe vs. The Volcano?

They're doomed! DOOOOMED I tell ya!

[SoCal Pubbie]

I know you didn't really mean it this way, but there are no earthquake proof buildings. Those built to earthquake resistant standards are a hell of a lot safer, though.

[mtbopfuyn]

Men stayed behind to guard their villages? Might as well pitch a virgin at the vocano for all the good they'll do if and when it does go ka-boom.

[MHGinTN]

As you know, RW, it isn't the fullness of the image bu t the closeness of the orbital approach that triggers crustal stress.

[FireTrack]

"so maybe next full moon will see some major earthquakes including volcanoes."

Okay, ;-)

[aruanan]

Men stayed behind to guard their villages? Might as well pitch a virgin at the vocano for all the good they'll do if and when it does go ka-boom.

Not from the volcano. From other men who'd be out to loot in the people's absence.

[missyme]

Thanks for clarifying :) but I think when Mineral Man says 6.0 cannot be a monster quake in California is in-accurate
depending on where it hit it could cause major damage and death..

[RightWhale]

It's just like the tides when I went sailing off the coast of Maine. Tides are strongest during new moon and full moon. Same for crustal stress.

[missyme]

Doesn't Indonesia have the highest population of Muslims?

[RightWhale]

It would be hard to make a living predicting earthquakes since they are not dependable on timing and especially not on location, but they do swarm around full moons on the Ring of Fire, and so do volcanoes.