Devestating Indonesian Volcano Forces Residents To Flee (PHOTOS)
Residents of Central Indonesia have been forced to flee thanks to multiple volcano eruptions.
Mount Lokon erupted three times over the past week and authorities in Indonesia expect there to be more. The volcano is located on the northern Sulawesi Island of the country. The explosive volcano has forced 6,000 residents of the area to flee. One woman suffered a heart attack and died while attempting to leave.
Overall, 30,000 or so people live in the area near the 5,741-foot (1,750-meter) mountain. However, only 5,000 were in the evacuation zone, which was established as a two-mile radius around the volcano. Air travel was rerouted away from that area during the eruptions.
The latest eruption on Sunday was the biggest to date according to authorities. It spewed soot and debris 11,400 feet and forced residents to find their way back to shelters after having come back from the Thursday and Friday eruptions.
The volcano has been dormant since 1991 when it erupted and similarly forced thousands to flee and took the life of a Swiss hiker. It is one of 129 active volcanoes in the populated country of 240 million people. The country is located on the Ring of Fire, which is a string of faults that lines the Pacific Ocean.
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