Villagers briefly returned home Tuesday to check their farms along the fertile slopes of an Indonesian volcano that erupted after laying dormant for more than four centuries — catching many scientists off-guard. Betta Tarigan, a 48-year-old farmer, piled into the back of a crowded pickup truck and headed up Mount Sinabung early Tuesday for a look at his cattle and crops before heading quickly back to one of many emergency shelters along the volcano’s base.
White smoke poured from the mouth of the crater and the air was thick with the smell of sulfur. “There’s not going to be a harvest this year ... just look at these tomatoes,” Tarigan said sadly, pointing to fields covered in gray soot. “They are all going to die.”
The eruption of the 8,000-foot (2,400-meter) volcano on Sunday was followed by a much more powerful blast Monday, forcing the evacuation of more than 30,000 people and putting the region on the highest alert level. Some domestic flights had to be diverted because of poor visibility. Two people died, but Priyadi Kardono of the National Disaster Management Agency said it was too early to say if the volcano was to blame.
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