A search and rescue team was warned yesterday to stay clear of an Indonesian volcano following a deadly eruption as experts checked for signs of further activity.
The 2,392m Mount Bromo, a popular tourist destination, shot out a shower of rocks and stones on Tuesday afternoon -- killing a 13-year-old Singaporean boy and an Indonesian and injuring five other people.
Geologists and vulcanologists were studying the mountain in East Java to find out what caused the eruption and assess whether the volcano is still dangerous.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"We cannot say yet whether there will be more eruptions. We still have to monitor the seismograph for a while," said Hendrastro, who heads the vulcanology office's Central and East Java sector.
Tuesday's eruption was the second that day in the Indonesian Archipelago, which sits on the "Pacific Rim of Fire" noted for its volcanic and seismic activity.
Hendrasto said thin smoke to a height of some 50m was emerging from the crater yesterday.
"There are no signs of an impending eruption, but then yesterday there were also no signs heralding the explosion such as shallow earthquakes, etc," he said by phone from the Bromo observatory station.
Hendrasto said they have advised the search team to stay away until the area is declared safe.
The site has been closed to the public till further notice.
Ahmadi Utomo, who heads search and rescue efforts, said he has no reports of anyone still missing following Tuesday's 20-minute eruption, which showered ash on the city of Malang some 40km to the west.
He planned to comb the plateau of volcanic sand from which the conical Mount Bromo rises, as well as the volcano's slopes, as a precautionary measure but said he has now told the searchers to await the all-clear.
The state Antara news agency, quoting local sources, said three flower sellers are missing. Utomo said he could not confirm the report.
Some policemen and volunteers have begun to search the sand plateau, he said.
A hospital morgue official in the nearby town of Probolinggo identified the Singaporean as Muhammad Nurhakim.
The other victim was a 21-year-old man from Surabaya in East Java.
In the island of Sangihe, hundreds of miles to the northeast, the 1,320m Mount Awu was yesterday morning still spewing smoke and ash.
"There was a rather loud eruption of smoke and ash around 5:20 this morning, but after that, there were only the continuous series of small smoke explosions as in past weeks," said Endi Dina of the local monitoring station.
Local officials say about 20,000 people have been evacuated from the slopes of the mountain, which began showering hot ash on villages on Sunday.
Mount Awu last erupted in 1992 but caused no casualties. A major eruption in August 1966 killed 39 people and caused thousands to flee.
Sangihe is part of an island chain stretching north from Sulawesi towards Mindanao in the southern Philippines.
Indonesia was the scene of one of history's largest volcanic eruptions when Mount Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait erupted on August 27, 1883.
More than 36,000 people were killed, mostly by huge tidal waves.
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