Mt Marapi Erups Again on Sunday Morning

Bukittinggi, W Sumatra - Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province erupted again at around 06.30 a.m. on Sunday, sending black smoke and volcanic ash 200-500 meters into the sky. The smoke and ash which moved in the westerly direction formed cloud and later scattered above the volcano's slope, an ANTARA journalist observed. Earlier, at around 08.00 a.m. on Saturday (Nov 19), the volcano appeared to spew out white thick smoke to a height of 50-100 meters for around five minutes in the easterly direction. Spokesman of the Bukittinggi volcanology and geological disaster mitigation center Warseno said the volcano's activities had been fluctuating for a quite long time. "Sometimes the volcano erupts by spewing volcanic ash. And sometimes it only spews out white thick or thin smoke with mild pressure," he said. Even though the volcano's activities fluctuated, it remained under the second highest alert status, he said. "The volcano is still declared off-limits for people to climb up to three kilometers from the peak," he said. Mt Marapi has showed signs of increased activity since August 3, 2011. The volcano had since then spewed out sulfuric acid volcanic ash to a height of up to 1,000 meters and the ash reached a number of areas in West Sumatra such as Agam, Tanahdatar, Padangpariaman, and Padangpanjang. The volcano last erupted in 2005.(*)