Mount Sinabung Spews Clouds of Hot Ash Again
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8 November 2020 10:38 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Medan - Mount Sinabung in Karo district, North Sumatra province, spewed clouds of hot ash for the second consecutive day on Saturday, according to the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG).
The amplitude of the hot ash clouds was recorded at 100 mm, while their duration was noted at 158 seconds, Mount Sinabung Observation Post head Armen Putra said here on Saturday.
The volcanic clouds moved in easterly and southeasterly directions, with a sliding distance of about 1,500 meters, he informed.
Putra cautioned local residents against entering the volcano's red zone owing to the high volcanic activity and alert status.
The 2,451-high volcano had spewed hot ash clouds earlier on Friday and had erupted on October 29, 2020, spewing a giant cloud of ash 2,000 meters in the easterly and southeasterly directions and a 1,500-meter-high column of ash.
Mount Sinabung has repeatedly erupted since 2010. Its sporadic eruptions have resulted in the displacement of tens of thousands of people in disaster zones. Currently, the volcano's alert status is at Level III.
Local residents and visitors have been prohibited from venturing within a three-kilometer (km) radial radius of Mount Sinabung’s summit, and a sectoral radius of 5 km in the south-east sectors, and 4 km in the east-north sectors.
The volcano had erupted early on the morning of August 8, 2020, producing a 2,000-meter-high ash column. The eruption had affected local residents in the subdistricts of Teran, Berastagi, Simpang 4, and Merdeka.
At the time, the Karo district administration had distributed 1,500 face masks to local residents to protect them from the volcanic ash from the eruption and the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The face masks were distributed to motorists, drivers, and residents venturing outdoors, acting head of the Karo Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Natanail Perangin-angin, had said.
"Local residents must wear the face masks to cover their mouths and noses," Perangin-angin had said, adding that face masks had also been mandated in the government's health protocols for containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also Read: Mount Sinabung Erupts; Spewing Ash Clouds to Three Districts
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