Mount Sinabung erupts, thousands flee

BPBDs North Sumatra said residents were evacuated to a number of places in Karo.

Thousands of people are reported to have fled to some place following the eruption of Sinabung Volcano located in Karo, North Sumatra on Sunday (15/09) morning.

Some reports said hundreds of people who lived in villages as in Sukameriah Village, Village Kutarayat, Simacem village, and the village Bekerah have left their homes to flee to a place in Karo, North Sumatra.

Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency of North Sumatera, Asren Nasution said the number of registered refugees has reached 3,710 people.

"They came from five villages located three kilometers directly under the foot of the mountain and the surrounding villages," said the BBC's Asren Indonesia, Andrew Nugroho.

According Asren local government has prepared a number of refugee camps for area residents affected by Sinabung Volcano eruption.

Three standby

Residents who are three kilometers from the crater had indeed been asked to evacuate by local government.

"We put them in the building and Jambur-Jambur or meetinghouses around Karo District Office as well as in homes owned by their families."

He said the government has declared a state of alert in anticipation of the impact of three advanced due to the eruption.

"So far the situation is quite gentle and controlled and there were no reports of casualties or injuries."

The eruption of Mount Sinabung times it has been spewing volcanic ash and small rocks that hit some of the surrounding villages.

After the eruption, Sinabung Volcano Post reported that there were 255 earthquakes in the volcanic, earthquake-blowing 16 times, 5 local tectonic earthquakes, and 24 distant tectonic earthquake.

There has been no reports of the effects of this eruption has disrupted flight activity in Kuala Namu Airport, Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.

The Ministry of Transportation says they still have not received the report and will be looking for the latest information about the impact of the eruption on the activities at the airport.