Indonesia’s Mount Lokon volcano erupts

April 24, 2012 – INDONESIA – North Sulawesi’s Mount Lokon erupted at 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, after several days of increased activity, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has announced. The height at which lava shot out of the volcano was unknown because clouds were blocking the full view. The agency declared areas within a 2.5 kilometers radius from the mountain’s peak dangerous and urged nearby residents to stay alert. There are no residential areas within that zone. However, the agency said that the residents living outside the zone do not need to evacuate yet. “There might be other eruptions. We call on the residents to stay calm,” agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post. Sutopo added that officers from the agency had been deployed to the area to assist local authorities.–Jakarta Post