TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Mount Soputan located in the border of South East Minahasa regency and South Minahasa regency in North Sulawesi province on Saturday erupted again.
"There were two eruptions. The first one happened early in the morning on Saturday at 4 am local time and the second one was quite big, at 5 pm,” said Head of Minahasa Regency Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Joppie Mokodase in Ratahan.
According to Joppie, hot clouds and volcanic ashes sewn from the crater of the mountain headed to the and east and southeast direction from the mountain.
"The hot clouds were seen heading east and south east and several areas nearby were already hit by volcanic ashes rain,” he added.
Joppie also said that Minahasa BPBD was coordinating with the observation post of Mount Soputan located in Silian district.
"We’re still coordinating with the posts regarding steps to be taken following the eruption,” he added.
Joppie also said that Minahasa BPBD has urged the people not to do any activities near the mountain.
NANCY LT | ANTARA