Indonesia’s Mount Lokon erupts- hundreds to be evacuated as volcano raised to red alert

Officials raised the alert for an Indonesian volcano with history of violent explosions to its highest level following a series of eruptions over the weekend.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation has issued recommendations related to increasing the alert status of Mount Lokon.

An eruption warning has been issued for Lokon volcano on North Sulawesi near Manado town. Increased seismic activity, and increasing emission of steam and ash have been observed from Tompaluan crater. Authorities are evacuating the nearby populated areas.

The twin volcanoes Lokon and Empung, rising about 800 m above the plain of Tondano, are among the most active volcanoes of Sulawesi.

Lokon, the higher of the two peaks (whose summits are only 2.2 km apart), has a flat, craterless top. The younger Empung volcano has a 400-m-wide, 150-m-deep crater that erupted last in the 18th century, but all subsequent eruptions have originated from Tompaluan, a 150 x 250 m wide double crater situated in the saddle between the two peaks.

Historical eruptions have primarily produced small-to-moderate ash plumes that have occasionally damaged croplands and houses, but lava-dome growth and pyroclastic flows have also occurred. (VolcanoDiscovery)