JAKARTA, Oct. 3, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Mount Soputan in Indonesia’s North
Sulawesi province spewed a column of ash up to 4 km into the sky on
Wednesday, a disaster agency official said.
The volcanic ash headed westward and northwestward of the crater, spokesman
of national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
Rain of ashes is projected to fall in the northwest of the crater, and
local disaster agency officials had distributed masks to the folks, the
spokesman noted.
An exclusion zone has been declared 4 km from the crater and extended to
6.5 km for the areas situated in the southwest of the crater by the country’s
volcanology agency, Sutopo said.
Residents living near rivers whose upstream are around the flank of the
volcano are warned to exercise caution, particularly during rain, for the
risk of fast-moving flows of cool lava, the spokesman told Xinhua in a text
message.
North Sulawesi province is located next to Central Sulawesi province which
is reeling from the risks of powerful quakes that triggered tsunami on
Friday, leaving over 1,249 people dead.