Volcano erupts on Sulawesi as time runs short to rescue survivors of earthquake and tsunami

Time was running out on Wednesday for anyone trapped in the rubble of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, five days after disaster struck, while increasingly angry survivors waited for an aid operation to move into high gear.

Adding to Sulawesi’s woes, the Soputan volcano in the north of the island, about 600km northeast of Palu, erupted early on Wednesday but there were no reports of any casualties or damage. Ash columns reached 4km into the air but were not expected to disrupt flights.

“It could be that this earthquake triggered the eruption, but the direct correlation has yet to be seen as there had been an increase in the Mount Soputan activity,” Kasbani, a government volcanologist who uses one name, told online news portal Tempo.

Nazli Ismail, a geophysicist at University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh on Sumatra island, stressed there was no concrete evidence to show they are linked.

“People talk about the butterfly effect. The concept is that when a butterfly flaps its wings, it can cause a catastrophe,” he said. “So it is possible for the earthquake to trigger the volcano eruption, but it’s not conclusive. This needs to be further investigated.”

The official death toll from the 7.5-magnitude quake that struck the west coast of the Sulawesi island last Friday stood at 1,374, many killed by tsunami waves triggered by the quake.