MT DUKONO IN NORTH MALUKU AGAIN SPEWS THICK SMOKE

Ternate, N Maluku, Nov 28 (ANTARA)- Mount Dukono in North Halmahera district, North Maluku province again spewed thick smoke on Thursday (Nov 27).
The smoke columns rose into the sky to a height of 1,300 meters, a witness said.
"We are not afraid of Mount Dukono's spewing smoke because we are already accustomed to the volclanic activity," Agus, a local resident living near the mountain, said here on Friday.
Last September, Mount Dukono spewed dust and sand but the local authorities considered the activity not to be too dangerous.
The volcano had frequently spewed thick smoke and sand lately so that the status of the situation around it was raised from the normal to the alert level several months ago.
The alert status did not scare people living surrounding the mountain, and they even keep working at their farm-land, Agus said.
The local residents only stop hiking to Mount Dukono's top since alert status was given to the mountain.
Mount Dukono is one of five active volcanoes in North Maluku. Status of the other two volcanoes namely Mount Gamalama in Ternate and Mount Ibu in West Halmahera district have also been raised from normal to alert level, Agus added.***2***