Indonesia: Raung, Gamalama volcanoes erupt

Mount Raung in western Indonesia erupted on July 16 while Mount Gamalama in eastern Indonesia also spewed powerful bursts of volcanic ash after remaining dormant since last December.
Mount Raung in western Indonesia erupted on July 16 while Mount Gamalamain eastern Indonesia also spewed powerful bursts of volcanic ash afterremaining dormant since last December.

According to Sutopo PurwoNugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Management agency, MountRaung spewed a column of ash that rose two kilometres in the sky andspread west and southwest of the crater.

Sutopo said authoritieshave banned the public from entering the slope of the volcano within a3-kilometre radius from the crater as the alert status of Raung wasraised to the second highest level.

On July 9, the Ministry ofTransportation closed the Bali International Airport, about 150kilometres from Mount Raung, and four other local airports as volcanicash from the mount endangered aviation.

Meanwhile, Mount Gamalamain Ternate of North Maluku sent powerful bursts of volcanic ash up 1.5kilometres in the sky which spread to the north of the crater.

The eruption was not followed by a spike in seismic activities at the volcano, which remains at the third highest alert level.

Authorities have banned people from entering a 1.5-kilometre radius of that slope.

Raung and Gamalama are among 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia.-VNA

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