Thousands of residents near Mt. Anak Ranaka evacuated

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 09/26/2011

Thousands of residents living around Mount Anak Ranaka, Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara, have been evacuated as the volcano is expected to erupt within the next two days.

Mount Anak Ranaka

“We were forced to leave our homes and find a safer place,” Sita village head Yusup Anggas said on Monday as quoted by Kompas.com.

He said more than 1,500 residents had been living in tents on Golomengko soccer field since early September.   

The Bandung Volcanic and Geological Mitigation Center (PVMBG) has raised the alert status of Mt. Anak Ranaka due to an increasing number of deep and shallow volcanic earthquakes since June 2011. As of today, 24 deep volcanic earthquakes and 10 shallow volcanic earthquakes have been recorded.

Mt. Anak Ranaka last erupted on Jan.11, 1988, spewing ash 8,000 meters high that blanketed Wae Reno and Wae Teko to the north of the volcano.