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Jakarta. — Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra erupted 24 times yesterday, shooting a column of ash about 4 000m to the sky and forcing further evacuation, official said.
A powerful burst of ash spread from the crater of the rumbling volcano located in Karo district, and the hot ash slid off to the southeast, scaling up the number of people fleeing the eruption to 24 949 yesterday from 22,708 days ago, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency.
“It is expected that the volcano is going to persist eruption in days to come,” he told Xinhua over phone.
Evacuation zone has been declared at 7km from the crater of the volcano, Sutopo said, adding the authorities will proceed to send emergency relief aid to affected areas.
The 2 457m Mount Sinabung rumbled to life in September after being dormant for 400 years. It has erupted on and off since then, but went into overdrive in November and December.
Mount Sinabung is among the 129 active volcanoes in the vast archipelago, which is prone to seismic upheaval as it lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” encircling the Pacific Ocean. — Xinhua.
Online Reporter