Manado, Ekuatorial – Soputan volcanic mountain of North Sulawesi erupted and spewed volcanic ashes on Tuesday (6/1). The six-kilometer tall of materials hit at least nine districts in the mountain.
The nine districts were East Tombatu, North Tombatu , Silian Raya, Touluaan, Tombatu Raya, Pasan, Ratahan, East Ratahan, and Belang. Meanwhile three districts, — Ratatotok, Posumaen, and South Touluan –, missed the ash.
“We were surprised by the sound of sands hitting our roofs. After we checked, our roofs and yards were covered with ashes from Soputan mountain,” said Nolfie Tamod, resident of Touluaan Mitra sub-district citing that they were still sleeping when ashes pouring down their houses.
Asep Saefullah, monitoring official of Soputan Mountain, said that one eruption spewed ashes up to six kilometer high and only small amount of lava went through southwest. However, Saefullah warned that tremors have been occurring and the mountain’s temperature was rising up. “Soputan is now Level 3 alert meaning that 6.5 kilometer radius from Soputan Mountain is off limits. People need to watch this [warning],” he said.
In separate place, Mitra Disaster Mitigation Agency, Jopie Mokodaser said that they have already set up two monitoring post for Soputan activities for anticipation. “We just waiting for official letter from Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation [PVMBG] for further actions. But, we also coordinated with health agency to distribute masks for people affected with ashes,” said Mokodaser. “The ashes were thin. Silian and Ratahan districts are the worst affected areas but there are still no shelters yet.” Yoseph Ikanubun