Volcano sends out huge ash plume

SCIENTISTS have warned that an Indonesian volcano which erupted last week for the first time in 400 years is increasing in activity after sending a towering cloud of black ash into the air, dusting villages 15 miles away.

Some witnesses reported seeing several hot spots at the foot of Mount Sinabung for the first time yesterday.

Its eruption last week caught many scientists off guard, spewing out lava and sending smoke and dust thousands of feet into the air.

The volatility of the volcano, on the island of Sumatra, sparked panic before mass evacuations got underway. Two people died, one from breathing problems and the other from a heart attack, following the eruption and there were reports of injuries and road accidents as the rescue operation swung into action.

Surono, who heads the nation’s volcano alert centre, said the government sent dozens of trucks to the mountain to help carry them back before the latest eruption yesterday, which sent ash and debris shooting three miles (5,000m) into the air.

Local media said ash had reached as far as Berastagi, a district 15 miles (25km) from the base.

Surono said activity was definitely increasing.

Some witnesses at the foot of Mount Sinabung reported seeing an orange glow – presumably magma – in cracks along the volcano’s slopes.

“It was really terrifying,” said Anissa Siregar, 30, as she and her two children arrived by truck at an emergency shelter near the base, adding that the mountain shook violently for at least three minutes. “It just keeps getting worse.”

Last week’s first eruption caught many scientists off guard. With more than 129 active volcanoes to watch, local vulcanologists had failed to monitor the long-quiet mountain for rising magma, slight uplifts in land and other signs of seismic activity.

There are fears that the current activity could foreshadow a much more destructive explosion in the coming weeks or months, although it is possible, too, that Sinabung will go back to sleep after letting off steam.

More than 30,000 people living along the volcano’s fertile slopes have been relocated to refugee camps, mosques and churches in nearby villages.

But some – such as Ms Siregar – have insisted on returning to the danger zone to check on their homes and their dust-covered crops.

The most recent eruption happened just after midnight during a torrential downpour. Witnesses said volcanic ash and mud oozed down the mountain’s slopes, flooding into abandoned homes. Others saw bursts of fire and hot ash.

The force of the explosion could be felt 5 miles (8km) away.

Indonesia is a seismically charged region because of its location on the so-called “Ring of Fire” – a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

It has recorded some of the largest eruptions in history.

The 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora buried the inhabitants of Sumbawa Island under searing ash, gas and rock, killing an estimated 88,000 people.

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa could be heard 2,000 miles (3,200km) away and blackened skies region-wide for months. At least 36,000 people were killed in the blast and the tsunami that followed.