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Two volcanoes spew more smoke and ash
Hot ash and thick smoke spewed out of two Indonesian volcanoes on yesterday, a day after an eruption from one killed two tourists and rumblings at the other forced thousands of people to evacuate.
Local vulcanologist Hendrasto described the simultaneous activity at Mount Bromo and Mount Awu as ?pure coincidence?. Indonesia sits astride the geologically active Pacific ?ring of fire? and has more than 100 active volcanoes.
Thick brown smoke hovered above 2,392-metre (7,846-foot) Mount Bromo in densely populated East Java province, but there were no fresh eruptions of rocks like the ones that killed two tourists, one an Indonesian and the other from Singapore, on Tuesday.
At least three people were reported missing and search and rescue officials planned to comb the slopes of the volcano, some 750 km (470 miles) east of Jakarta, in search of them.
?The condition is unpredictable. The character of this volcano is different from the others. Small earthquakes that were recorded two days ago are quite usual for active volcanoes but suddenly it erupted,? said Atje Purbawinata, a vulcanologist at the scene.
Another vulcanologist said Mt Bromo had subsided and its status remained one level below the highest alert with no need yet to evacuate local residents.
No sign of calming</B>
The other volcano that has been unusually active in recent days, Mount Awu on Sangihe island, some 2 250 km (1 400 miles) northeast of Jakarta, showed no sign of calming and belched out more hot smoke and ash.
?At around 0512 (2112 GMT Tuesday) there was a quite a large eruption of hot ash and at the top of the mountain there is now a column of smoke 2 000 metres (6 562 ft) high,? Samuel Dalompha, an official of the Directorate of Vulcanology on the island, told El Shinta radio.
Officials had yet to see imminent signs of a lava eruption, he said. As many as 20 000 people on Sangihe, which is near the Philippines, have been evacuated from the mountain?s slopes and immediate vicinity.
The island has a population of nearly 200 000, and other islands in the area have a combined population of around 60 000.
Mount Awu, one of the most active volcanoes in the sprawling archipelago, has erupted repeatedly since the 17th century. Nearly 3,000 people died when it blew up in 1812.
The volcano?s last fatal eruption was in 1966 when 40 people were killed. It has erupted on a number of occasions since then.
Mount Bromo is a popular tourist destination in East Java, where visitors can climb its slope to watch the sunrise. Dozens of international tourists were still seen in the area on yestereday despite appeals by officials to leave.
<B>Heri Retnowati</B>
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