Mt. Soputan Erupts
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KHO & AGENCIES: Mt. Soputan,
an active volcano, only 60 km from |
Manado and Adelaide friend Les' resort
island of Lembeh blew it's top October 26. The volcano spewed ash on |
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nearby villages forcing 100's of
people to evacuate. spokesman, Ronny Suwarno said "Villages in S.E. Minahasa
district on which ash has fallen have been put on red alert." |
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Ash also rained on a number of villages
in South Minahasa. |
The KHO Disaster Department wasted
no time in contacting Les on Lembeh island. Les replied: "Quite honestly
we heard nothing |
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about it here in North Sulawesi.
Strange!!!" The last major eruption was in 1984 when many villages were
destroyed. Mt. Soputan briefly erupted August last year. |
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Mt Kelud Alert
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BANDUNG, Indonesia, Oct 14 (Reuters)
- Indonesia's Mount Kelud volcano, which was put on the country's second-highest
alert level last month, shows several alarming signs indicating it may
erupt. |
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Major Volcano's Java - Bali
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Indonesia's top volcano expert Surono,
said "I'm scared about Kelud," The number of volcanic earthquakes at Mount
Kelud, 90 km (55 miles) southwest of Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya,
has risen to as high as 23 in one day. |
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Mt Kelud - Java
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Compared with a maximum of 15 a day
just before its last eruption in 1990, Surono said. The 1,731-metre (5,712-foot)
volcano's expansion and deformation has increased, and |
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Monitoring Mr Kelud
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gas or mical levels have risen. Surono
and his team have been in Bandung, monitoring Mount Kelud for weeks, after
three other volcanoes erupted earlier this year. |
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Satellite Photo-Crater Lake
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When Kelud last erupted in 1990,
at least 30 people were killed, while an eruption in 1919 killed 4,011
as it ejected scalding water from its crater lake. Local people have been
told to stay out of a 5 km radius of the volcano, but an estimated 350,000
live within 10 km, growing coffee, sugar cane, pineapples and papayas on
the rich volcanic soil or feeding their cattle on the volcano's slopes,
and some are ignoring the warnings, Surono said. |
Stop Press:
Oct. 28 Anak Krakatau started spewing smoke and ash. |
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Local authorities have taken precautions,
ensuring channels and barriers to protect the area from lahar, a mix of
hot stones and water, have been strengthened. Some villagers who survived
the 1990 eruption have said they plan to shelter under tables rather than
leave their homes. "Many people experienced this volcano, and they say
they will stay in their houses because they are not scared," said Surono,
although he fears such measures would prove inadequate if Mount Kelud showers
hot ash. |
Major Eruptions
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Since recorded time volcanoes have
so far killed about 150,000 people in Indonesia. Superstitious locals believe
a major eruption is an omen of major political significance. They
believe that sacrifices of animals will appease the volcanoes’ fiery spirits. |
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Year |
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Volcano |
Deaths |
1586 |
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Kelud |
10,000
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1672 |
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Merapi |
3,000
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1772 |
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Papandayan |
2,957
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1815 |
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Tambora-Sumbawa |
92,000
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1883 |
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Krakatau |
36,417
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1919 |
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Kelud |
4,011
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1930 |
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Merapi |
3,000
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1963 |
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Agung-Bali |
1,184
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1990 |
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Kelud |
30
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1994 |
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Rinjani |
30
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