| JAKARTA,
Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia's Mount Lokon volcano belched gas
and ash high into the air while a magnitude-5.4 undersea earthquake
rattled Sumatra island on Wednesday, geological officials
said.
The
two events were not related, they said. No injuries were
reported.
The
volcano in Minahasa district, North Sulawesi island, has
been declared off-limits to visitors since it first showed
signs of activity on Monday, said volcanologist Ajceh Purbawinata.
The
5,180-foot-high peak, about 1,440 miles northeast of Jakarta,
last erupted in 1991, killing a Swiss tourist and causing
extensive damage to surrounding villages.
Lying
astride the ``Ring of Fire'' - a series of volcanoes and
fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through
Japan and Southeast Asia - Indonesia has 500 volcanoes,
more than any other nation. At least 129 are considered
active.
The
earthquake hit Bengkulu town, on the southwest coast of
Sumatra, but caused no casualties, the Meteorology and Geophysics
Agency said.
The
quake hit at 5:35 a.m. local time and was centered 46 miles
west of Bengkulu in the Indian Ocean, the agency said in
a statement.
Last
June, a 7.9 quake killed at least 100 people and wrecked
hundreds of buildings and homes in Bengkulu, about 360 miles
northwest of Jakarta. Since then, near-weekly earthquakes
have shaken the town.
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