Mount Kerinci Spews Blackish Smoke

Padang Aro, West Sumatra, Nov 3 (ANTARA) - Mount Kerinci, located between Kerinci district of Jambi and South Solok district of West Sumatra, spewed out clouds of blackish smoke on Monday. The thick clouds of smoke, moving south, could be seen clearly from Muaralabuh, South Solok. "This is typical of Mt. Kerinci, and the thick blackish smoke is due to the current weather conditions. During the rainy season, water flows down to the crater, producing smoke," Chief of Mt. Kerinci Monitoring Post Indra Saputra told ANTARA on Monday. He said the smoke coming out of the 3,805-meter-high volcano was �harmless to people around the area�. However, the volcano sent thick smoke up to 50-200 metres into the sky. �Mt. Kerinci is still on alert status because of the frequent volcanic earthquakes,� Indra explained. The monitoring post, located in Lindung Jaya village of Kayu Aro sub-district, recorded that Mt. Kerinci caused two volcanic earthquakes in November. "Usually, Kerinci does not cause such earthquakes in November. We are still analyzing the data for December," Indra noted. The monitoring post has urged hikers to not go anywhere within a one-kilometre radius of the volcano`s crater.