Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) dispatched personnel back to Tagulandang, Sitaro Islands, North Sulawesi, to assist in handling the impact of Mount Ruang's eruption.

"The rescue team is going back there after they withdrew on Thursday (April 25)," said Monce Brury, Manado Search and Rescue Office Head, in a statement on Tuesday.

He said that a team of 34 personnel was dispatched aboard a boat this morning after receiving the report of another eruption.

"They were dispatched to help accelerate the evacuation of residents, logistics distribution, and all other disaster relief efforts," he added.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) has officially increased the status of Mount Ruang to Level IV (Beware) from earlier at Level III (Alert).

The increase in alert level was determined after Ruang, a stratovolcano, erupted and spewed an ash column 2,000 meters high.

Tuesday's eruption at around 2:35 a.m. local time was accompanied by rumbling sounds and earthquakes that were felt continuously.

The impacts of Mount Ruang's eruption, in the form of ash rain and small rocks, reportedly have a wider scope as compared to the last eruption on April 17.

The PVMBG stated that the emergency response post in Apengsala Village, Tagulandang, 7 kilometers outside the disaster-prone area, was also affected by the ash rain.

The PVMBG recommended Basarnas evacuate residents within a radius of six kilometers from the active crater of Mount Ruang.

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Translator: M Prasetyo, Kenzu
Editor: Anton Santoso
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