Indonesia’s Sinabung volcano erupts again, displacing 19,000

January 1, 2014 – INDONESIA – More than 19,000 people have been displaced by a volcano in Indonesia that has been erupting for months and shot lava into the air nine times overnight. Mount Sinabung on Sumatra sent hot rocks and ash 7,000 meters in the air last night and this morning, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. “Mount Sinabung remains on the highest alert level and we have warned there should be no human activity within a five-kilometer radius of the crater,” Mr Nugroho said. “On Monday night, 19,126 people had fled their homes, and we expect that number to rise.” Police and soldiers were patrolling the danger zone to evacuate people who have chosen to stay in their homes, Mr. Nugroho added. Mount Sinabung – one of dozens of active volcanoes in Indonesia which straddles major tectonic fault lines – erupted in September for the first time since 2010 and has been rumbling ever since. In August, five people were killed and hundreds evacuated when a volcano on a tiny island in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted. The country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions in 2010. –ABC

Alaska Volcano erupts: Small, brief explosions were detected at the volcano yesterday evening (21:29 UTC or 12:29 AKST) and this morning at 4:06 UTC (19:06 AKST local time), USGS reported. No satellite images available after the time of the explosion, so uncertain if minor ash cloud generated, but unlikely. “Similar such explosions may continue without warning, and may produce minor ash clouds that are not expected to extend much beyond the volcano, but could produce local fallout on the flanks of the volcano. AVO has received no reports of activity from local observers.” –Volcano Discovery