An Indonesian volcano spewed ash 3.5 kilometers into the air on Sunday in the biggest eruption since the peak burst last week, officials said, according to dpa. More than 5,200 people have sought refuge in schools and government buildings outside a 3.5-kilometre evacuation zone around Mount Lokon in the northern part of Sulawesi island. Evacuations started when the government raised the alert in the area to the highest level on July 10, said Sutopo Nugroho, a spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency. It was hard to predict whether the volcano would continue to erupt in the coming days, the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation. "We don't know if today's eruption means that the volcano's energy has decreased or it remains the same," said Surono, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name. The 1,580-metre peak last erupted in 1991, killing a Swiss tourist. About 30,000 people live near the volcano, local authorities said. More than 200 people were killed when Mount Merapi, the country's most active volcano, erupted last year on Java island. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area known for its frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The archipelagic nation is home to at least 129 active volcanoes.
