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1st LD Writethru: Mount Raung, Gamalama volcanoes erupt in Indonesia

Xinhua, July 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Mount Raung in western Indonesia erupted again on Thursday and Mount Gamalama in eastern Indonesia also spewed powerful bursts of volcanic ash after being quiet since last December, an official told Xinhua.

Mount Raung, located near Banyuwangi of East Java, spewed a column of ash by up to 2 km to the sky which spread to west and southwest of the crater, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of Indonesia's national disaster management agency said via phone.

Hot lava keeps coming out from the crater and tremors continue from the rumbling volcano, said Sutopo.

Local authorities have distributed masks to the residents and called on them to use the filter for air, he added.

The Indonesian authorities have banned people from entering the slope of the volcano at the radius of 3 km from the crater as the alert status of the volcano has been lifted to the second highest, according to Sutopo.

On July 9, the Indonesian transport ministry closed the Bali international airport, located 150 km from Mount Raung, along with four other airports in the country as volcanic ash from Mount Raung endangered aviation.

Separately in Ternate of North Maluku, Mount Gamalama spewed powerful bursts of volcanic ash by up to 1.5 km to the sky which spread to the north of the crater, the official said.

But the eruption was not followed by extreme hike of seismic activities at the volcano which remains the third highest on alert level, said Sutopo.

The authorities have banned people from entering the slope at the radius of 1.5 km, he said.

Mount Raung and Mount Gamalama are among the 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia.

Indonesia is also on alert of the further eruption of Mount Sinabing in Karo district of North Sumatra as more than 10,000 people have fled home in recent weeks as the volcano erupted on and off. Endi