Jakarta - XINHUA
Three volcanoes in western and eastern parts of Indonesia erupted on Tuesday, shooting columns of ash by up to 3 km high, official said here on Tuesday.
Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, Mount Raung in East Java and Mount Gamalama in North Maluku, have erupted on and off in recent weeks, but they went into overdrive on Tuesday, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency said.
Mount Sinabung in Karo district of North Sumatra shot ash as high as 1.5 km to the sky and triggered rains of hot volcanic ash 3 km to the southeast and east of the crater with over 35 times tremors, the spokesman said.
Hot lava burst forth with flames from the crater and slid off 1. 5 km to the southeast of the crater, said Sutopo.
"These indicate the potential of eruption still high," he told Xinhua via phone.
Evacuation zone remains in place 6 km at the east and 7 km at the southeast and south, according to him.
Separately in East Java, Mount Raung volcano burst columns of ash 800 meters high and triggered volcanic ash at the district of Banyuwangi and Jember on Tuesday, he said.
Mount Gamalama in North Maluku had light eruption with tremors on Tuesday, said Sutopo.
Mount Sinabung, Mount Raung and Mount Gamalama are among the Indonesia's 129 active volcanoes.