Volcano warning after Indonesian earthquake
An earthquake that killed more than 70 people in western Indonesia may have led to heightened activity at three volcanoes, experts warned today.
Tuesday’s quake, which was followed by a powerful aftershock, flattened scores of homes and buckled roads on Sumatra island’s western side.
As survivors complained that food, shelter materials and drinking water was slow in reaching them, they were warned of a new potential threat.
Geologists said sensors on the slopes of three active volcanoes – Talang, Tandikat and Merapi – had detected above-average activity since the 6.3 magnitude quake, which was also lightly felt in Singapore and Malaysia.
“We usually need about a month to observe whether the earthquake could trigger an eruption,” said Gede Suantika, an official from Indonesia’s volcanology institute.
Residents living near the 9,186ft) Mount Talang – one of the country’s most active mountains – were nervous. In 2005, a minor eruption forced the evacuation of more than 2,500 people.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Suantika said the quake’s epicentre was located on a fault line that goes close to the three volcanoes on its way to the southern part of Sumatra, which like many of Indonesia’s 17,000 islands is dotted with volcanoes.
Volcanic eruptions have followed earthquakes in the past, but there is disagreement among scientists over whether the two are linked, according to a posting on the US Geological Survey website.
Food, water and instant noodles have arrived in cities, but assistance has been slow to reach victims in surrounding areas, said Ahmad Arsnal, an official at the provincial emergency relief agency.
Agencies have given conflicting death tolls. A presidential spokesman said on Wednesday that 52 people had died, revising the toll down from 70 reported on the day of the quake. But a day later, West Sumatra vice governor Marlis Rahman said 74 people had died.
