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1 000s on alert for volcano
12/07/2007 18:40 - (SA)
Jakarta - A rumbling volcano in eastern Indonesia was spewing ash and lava Thursday, as authorities expressed fears that a shift in winds could send hot clouds of volcanic debris onto villages below.
Thousands of people have been evacuated and others have been told to stay away from the eight kilometre danger zone along the mountain's slopes, said Saut Simatupang of the government's volcano monitoring agency.
Mount Gamkonora, located on Halmahera island, has been on the highest alert since Monday, and lava and debris have spilled from its mouth for days.
Hot clouds of ash were shooting 1 000m into the sky on Thursday, a slight decrease in activity.
No casualties have been reported, but authorities are worried that potential shifts in wind could send the debris over still populated villages along the 1 635m volcano's western flank.
"That is our main concern right now," said Simatupang, whose team of researchers was still calculating the possible speed and trajectory of the hot clouds. A large eruption within the next few days was still possible, he added.
Mount Gamkonora lies about 2 400km northeast of the country's capital, 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.
- AP
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