Indonesia's volcano eruption persists, lava flood feared

Powerful burst of ash and volcanic materials of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra erupted several times on Saturday, incurring further evacuation as lava floods threatens, official said here on Saturday evening. Mount Sinabung in Karo district spewed a column of ash 5,000 km to the sky and hot ash slid off 4.5 km towards southeast and 1 km towards east and enveloped the provincial capital of Medan city, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management and mitigation agency. Hot ash and other volcanic materials already reached and spread into a river in Berastepu and other rivers at the Southeast and South of the crater, said Sutopo. "The potential of cool lava floods is threatening (once rains come). The deep parts of the rivers in southeast and south have been filled by many volcanic materials (Pirolastic material)," he told Xinhua over phone. "The community is banned from performing any activity at the rivers having upstream at downside of Mount Sinabung, " said Sutopo. The hot volcanic ash poured down villages with thickness of 10 cm, thousands hectares of plantations and horticulture fields at the downside of the volcano, damaging several houses and the agricultural commodities, said Sutopo. "Several villages have been isolated as the outpours of ash and volcanic materials impeded access," he said. As the Medan city has borne the brunt of the ash, the authorities have distributed thousands of masks to the people in anticipating from the risk of the polluted air, a local television reported. Saturday's eruption incurred panicked people fleeing the rumbling volcano, ramping up the number of internally displaced persons to 25,516 on Saturday evening from that of 24,949 on Friday, he said. The intensity of volcanic activity remained intensive with volcanic quake also still frequent, said Sutopo. "It is foreseen that Mount Sinabung eruption is going to proceed in days to come," he said. Evacuation zone has been declared at 5 km from the crater at the southeast and 7 km for the south, Sutopo said, adding the authorities will proceed to send emergency relief aids to affected- areas. The 2,457-meter Mount Sinabung has been back to life since September after being quite for 400 years. It has erupted on and off since then, but went into overdrive frequently in last November and December. The Mount Sinabung is among the 129 active volcanoes in the vast archipelago country, which is prone to seismic upheaval as it lays on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" encircling the Pacific Ocean.