REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG -- The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) has raised the status of Mount Egon in Sikka District, East Nusa Tenggara Province, from Alert Level 2 to Level 3 due to increasing volcanic activity.
"Volcanic tremors have also significantly hit the area since Tuesday morning," Spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted in a statement made available to Antara here on Wednesday.
As a result, Mount Egon's volcanic activity has increased, he said, adding that the volcano's Alert Level 3 status has come into effect since Wednesday at 6 a.m. local time.
The increase in Mount Egon's status to Alert Level 3 of the four possible levels, with Level 4 indicating the greatest danger, has enabled the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) to prepare necessary anticipatory measures, he affirmed.
The PVMBG has also recommended that all people living within the three-kilometer radius of Mount Egon's peak must be vacated, and hence, the residents of Egon Gahar Village should have been evacuated, he explained.
The evacuation was necessary to rescue the villagers from being hit by drifting hot ash if Mount Egon erupted.
"We have been coordinating with the local disaster mitigation agency regarding Mount Egon's status," Nugroho noted.
Mount Egon has erupted several times: 1888-1891, 1907, 1925, 2004, and 2008.
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