MT SOPUTAN ERUPTS

Manado, N Sulawesi, June 6 (ANTARA) - Mount Soputan in the northern part of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island erupted at around 09.00 a.m. on Friday, spewing hot ashes. "The tremors caused by the volcano's activities are very strong. A total of 45 tremors have been recorded so far," Sandy Manengkey, head of the Mt Soputan observatory post, said. The 1,783 meter-high volcano continued to send clouds of hot ashes into the sky but they were covered by haze, he said. "The clouds of hot ashes are still around the crater but they are slightly moving in westerly direction to Kotamenara and Amurang villages," he said. He said the local volcanology office was coordinating with the regional government in anticipating the threat of hot ashes to residents living on the volcano's slopes. Decky Tuwo, head of the South Minahasa district vital statistics office, said clouds of hot ashes affected a number of villages on the volcano's slopes, causing panic among local residents. "South Minahasa district head Ramoy Luntungan has sent a team of rescue workers from the local government to evacuate the people living on the volcano's slopes," he said. The villages include Kotamenara, Maliku and Ritey in Amurang subdistrict and some in Tumpaan and Touluaan subdistricts in Southeast Minahasa district.