The Volcanological Disaster Mitigation Agency in Bandung, West Java, had sent a new seismograph which was immediately installed at the spot where the damaged one was located, East Flores district chief Yoseph Lagadoni said here Wednesday.
"Before I went to Kupang, I checked with the monitoring officer and he said the new device has alreeady been put in place," he said.
Mount Lewotobi has been in a level III alert status since August 30, 2011, but the local people had been asked to remain alert to the possibility of an increase in its activity.
Officers at a Mt Lewotobi observation post at Nawakote village on Wednesday saw signs of low-pressure volcanic activity in the form of 15-50-meter-high smoke puffs from its crater.
"The level of the mountain`s volcanic activity has not shown a significant change," Lagadoni said.
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) had recently reported that three volcanoes in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) were showing increasing activity. Two of them are located in Flores island.
The two on Flores island are Mt Lewotobi Perempuan and Mt Lewotobi Laki Laki. The former had been showing increased activity since August 31, 2011.
Mt Lewotobi Perempuan`s top is 1703 meters and Mt Lewotobi Laki Laki`s 1584 meters above sea level.
The most recent eruptions of the two mountains happened in 1921 and 1935, Lagadoni said.(*)
A050/HAJM/A014
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
