Naman Teran, Berastagi, Simpang 4, and Merdeka are the sub-districts affected by the volcanic ash emitted from the erupting Mount Sinabung,
Medan, North Sumatra (ANTARA) - Volcanic ash from the erupting Mount Sinabung that reached two thousand meters into the air affected four sub-districts in Karo District, North Sumatra Province, on Saturday morning.

"Naman Teran, Berastagi, Simpang 4, and Merdeka are the sub-districts affected by the volcanic ash emitted from the erupting Mount Sinabung," Muhamad Nurul Assori, an officer at the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG), stated here on Saturday.

PVMBG's Mount Sinabung Observation Post has appealed to residents to wear face masks or personal protection equipment to safeguard from exposure to the volcanic ash.

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Local residents were advised to keep away from the red zone of the Mt Sinabung area owing to heightened volcanic activity.

On Saturday, at 1:58 a.m. WIB, Mount Sinabung erupted, sending a massive column of ash and smoke around two thousand meters high into the air, or some 4,460 meters above sea level.

This eruption was the first to have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic after the last one on June 9, 2019, sending volcanic ash up to seven thousand meters above the volcano's peak, or 9,460 meters above sea level. Mount Sinabung had remained dormant for four centuries, but it roared back to life in 2010 and has sporadically remained active.

The last known eruption, prior to recent times, occurred in the year 1600.

Over 30 thousand people across 34 villages were displaced during the period from September 2013 to February 2014 on account of the eruptions of the 2,600-meter-high mountain.

Mt Sinabung's eruption had claimed two lives in 2010 and 15 lives in 2015.

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Translator: Nur A Sitorus, Fardah
Editor: Mulyo Sunyoto
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