Alert Status, BPBD Tomohon Closes Climbing Towards Mount Lokon

A motorcyclist notices a banner from the Tomohon City BPBD that reads it is forbidden to climb Mount Lokon (Photo: Karel A Polakitan/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Tomohon City, North Sulawesi (North Sulawesi) has closed climbing activities to Mount Lokon which is currently still on alert (level II).

As reported by Antara, Monday, August 23, there are two points with a banner warning of the danger of the eruption of Mount Lokon measuring one by three meters high, namely at the intersection of three to the excavation area C, not far from the Kakaskasen Catholic Church.

Meanwhile, another banner was placed at the intersection of the four western rings, which is only a few kilometers from the excavation site C.

The banner that was installed contained a recommendation from the Lokon and Mahawu Volcano Monitoring Posts that in a 1.5-kilometer radius from the Tompaluan-Mount Lokon crater there was no activity.

There was no visible activity from residents who wanted to climb or while waiting for vehicles on arterial roads after climbing the day before the banner was installed.

"The city government will definitely follow up the recommendations from the volcano post by tightening the entrances to Mount Lokon," said Tomohon City Regional Secretary Edwin Roring in Tomohon, Sunday.

In addition, the ranks of the city government will place officers from the civil service police unit or BPBD personnel at the entrances to the mountain, which last erupted in 2015.

"Most importantly, we urge residents to obey the recommendations of the volcano post so that they don't move in a radius of 1.5 kilometers from the Tompaluan crater of Mount Lokon. All of this is to prevent things that we don't want from happening," said the friendly man who previously once served as the Regional Secretary of the Sangihe Islands.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources reminded the public and tourists not to approach the crater because of an increase in shallow earthquakes that could trigger eruptions with affected areas around the crater.