Northeast Indonesia Volcano

Proximate location of Mount Lokon

Mount Lokon, in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia (which is part of the "Ring of Fire") began to erupt lava and ash around 2:05pm Eastern time on Sunday, October 8th. Nearby residents, up to 3.8 miles away, reported hearing thumping noises around the time of eruption.

The volcano has been active since Friday, 10/5, but only spewing out ash. Officials did issue an early warning, but the mountain was still considered idle until the major eruption.

Eruptions continued after the initial; however, they are unable to be seen because of the thck clouds of ash surrounding the summit of the mountain.

Officials advise residents to limit outdoor activities and stay away from the volcano, but are not issuing an evacuation. This is because of an eruption that happened in July 2011. Mount Lokon had a series of eruptions that prompted officials to evacuate 4,000+ local residents.
They are using the development paradigm in the current situation. Adaption and predictions to make this judgement call. Since the evacuation in 2011 was unnecessary post hoc, they are seeing this as a similar instance and issuing a warning versus going any further.












Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/07/world/asia/indonesia-volcano/index.html?hpt=wo_bn4