by Dames Alexander Sinaga

JAKARTA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Saskia Warouw and her relatives have been living in a temporary shelter over the past two days following an increasing volcanic activity of Mount Ruang on the northern side of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The multiple eruptions of Mount Ruang on a remote island in North Sulawesi province over the past two days have forced the country's disaster mitigation agency BNPB to urge more than 11,000 people to evacuate.

Public facilities, including schools and a provincial airport, were also forced to close in the affected areas.

Located more than 100 kilometers north of the provincial capital Manado, Mount Ruang first erupted at 9:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday, sending billowing clouds of smoke and ash high into the sky.

The dangerous level for the volcano, 725 meters above sea level, has been raised to the country's highest Level IV since Wednesday. The country's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has advised people to avoid the exclusion zone around the crater from 4 kilometers to 6 kilometers as authorities have issued tsunami alerts in response to eruptions.

Warouw's house is in Laingpatehi, one of the villages affected by the eruptions. She and her relatives are now accommodated in a temporary shelter on neighboring Tagulandang Island, east of the Ruang volcano, which she thinks is "safe enough for evacuation."

She recalled tense moments following their fleeing from the second big eruption that occurred on Wednesday.

"My family were having dinner at the time. Suddenly, we heard the tremendous roar of the volcano. We were scared and panicked. I turned on my motorcycle and then rode to find a place we think is safer," she told Xinhua over phone on Friday.

Warouw saw thumb-sized glowing rocks thrown from the eruption and volcanic ash.

"The rocks were big. There was a lot of ash from the mountain. We were scared. We just wanted to keep going as far as possible for safety," she said.

She also saw thick smoke rising high just above the volcano crater, followed by flashes of lightning for some minutes. Not long after, earthquakes were felt almost every minute, she added.

According to her, at least 500 people in her village are currently taking shelter.

PVMBG has called on residents to wear masks to avoid exposure to volcanic ash, which can trigger asthma attacks and cause respiratory irritation.

Abdul Muhari, head of BNPB's disaster data, communications and information center, told local media on Friday that at least four vessels have been deployed to evacuate people living in affected areas with the agency's chief to come and handle the evacuation.

Heruningtyas Desi Purnamasari, an official at PVMBG, said earlier that explosive eruptions of Mount Ruang have been recorded since 1808 with main dangers including hot clouds and lava flows which could hit the entire island.

The official added that volcanic rocks and hot clouds from the eruptions could reach some parts of the neighboring Tagulandang Island.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is one of the countries with the most volcanoes in the world. Enditem

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