North Sulawesi Volcano Close to Erupting

I find it very eerie that ever since the massive tsunami struck Aceh over a year ago that there has been continuous activity on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

We have had increasing amounts of earthquakes across the archipelago, volcanoes coming to life and starting to erupt and only the other day we had another tsunami albeit smaller than the one in Aceh, strike West Java. And now a volcano in North Sulawesi is on the verge of erupting.

Mt. Karangetang on Siau island in Sangihe regency has been spewing clouds of hot ash and lava for the last five days forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. The level of activity at the volcano was threatening residents of the island.

Flows of lava have spewed from the volcano’'s crater accompanied by thunderous sounds and the lava has approached residential areas. The area regent continues monitoring the volcano and reports the latest developments to the central government to ensure the people of the island received the necessary assistance in the event of a major eruption.

The head of East Siau district, R. Areros, also expressed concern Monday over the activity at Mt. Karangetang. He said many residents of Taloarane village which is located at the foot of the mountain had refused to evacuate despite the danger.

"We have had eruptions before and in previous incidents residents also refused to evacuate" said one resident of Taloarane village. He and other residents were continuing their normal activities despite the danger from the nearby volcano.
However some residents have left the village moving in with relatives who live farther from the volcano.

Areros said that according to data from his office the number of people living in the danger zone who would have to be evacuated in the event of an eruption was more than 1,000. However many of them have refused to move despite our efforts to convince them to evacuate.

He did say about 1,100 people had moved into the homes of relatives located in safer areas while another 96 people were being accommodated in tents provided by the Sangihe regency administration.

Areros said lava continued flowing up to 1.5 kilometers from Mt. Karangetang's crater. The peak of the activity was Wednesday when the volcano spewed out six clouds of hot ash to a height of about 1,500 meters.

According to data at the mining resources and energy office in Manado, Mt. Karangetang's first registered eruption was in 1675 with no casualties recorded. This was followed by eruptions in 1712, 1825, 1864, 1883 and 1885.