Mount Sinabung. (AP Photos/Roone Patikawa)
Authorities set the status of Mount Sinabung to Level IV Alert as it has erupted 47 times in the past six days.
The mountain is located in Karo Regency, North Sumatera.
In a statement released today, theNational Disaster Mitigation Agency reported that the mountain erupted 8 times on Feb. 2, 12 times on Feb. 3, 12 times on Feb. 4 and 7 times on Feb. 5.
From Feb. 6 to 7, there were 8 eruptions without any sound, but the mountain produced thick grayish white ash that reached an altitude of 1,000 2,000 meters from the summit.
Sudah 22x G.Sinabung meletus sejak 4-6/2/2017. Tinggi kolom 5.000m disertai awan panas. Relokasi terkendala lahan. @jokowi @Pak_JK @detikcom pic.twitter.com/1slecKuGjA
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_BNPB) February 5, 2017
Locals and visitors are no longer allowed to do any activity within a radius of 3 kilometers from the summit and within 7 kilometers of the south-southeast sector, 6 kilometers of the southeast-east sector and 4 kilometers for north-east sector of Mount Sinabung.
Theagency also warned locals to remain alert of possible lava eruption.
The agency spokesperson, Sutopo Purwo, said local government is still in progress of relocating1,903 families. They previously moved 370 families to Siosar area.
There are still 1,050 families the government will relocate in the next phase.
However, the process is deterred by lack of land and people's hesitationto move.
As the danger zone expands, more people need to be relocated, Sutopo said. But local government of Karo Regency is having trouble finding land for relocation.
According to Sutopo, relocation areas provided by the local government only offer residential area but not farming land, making residentsunwilling to move.
(brl/red)
