THE SANGIR ERUPTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2009, 25 August 1892, Page 35

THE SANGIR ERUPTION.

(Peb Press Association.)

Sydney, August 23. News from Sangir Island, the scene of the recent; eruption, shows that the volcano is quieting down. Hundreds of bodies have been found on the low lands. A portion of the crater broko away, and a swift torrent of boiling mud rushed down the mountain side. Enormous volumes of smoke are still pouring from the several craters. The islands are now covered with furious boiling wells and springs of mud.

The eruption, it seems, occurred at Gunongaroo, a volcano on Sangir, which lies in the chain of islands connecting the northern arm of the Cslebes Sea with Mindanzo in the Philippines. On the western coast Sangir is washed by the Celebes Sea, the Molucca passage being on the east. At 10 a.m. on the 7th June Gunongaroo, without the slightest warning, broke out with several loud reports, and from that time until 9 p.m. fierce columns of flame and smoke and showers of large stones were belched forth, followed by a heavy rain of dust and ashes. This continued all night and the whole of the next day, there being, however, no earthquake. On the night of the 9th heavy rumblings were heard in the mountain, and a slight eruption of mud and ashes took place, followed again by terrific rains of debris. The village of Torena, situated on the south side of tho mountain, protected by a ridge of hills some 1800 ft high, was covered with ashes, many of the houses having been crushed by the accumulated weight of ashes and dust. The 'whole of the enormous plantations of cocoanuts covering the hills on each side of Torena were entirely destroyed, but no lives appear to have been lost in Torena itself. To the westward of Torena, after passing tho foot of the ridge, a scene of desolation presents itself, as the whole country is under a thick layer of mud and ashes. All vegetation was buried up by the volcanic jets throwing up showers of mud and stones, forming hot streams some feet in depth, and rendering travelling unsafe. The north side of the island is utterly destitute, the nutmeg and cocoa plantations, and in some cases whole villages, being buried by the lava, ashes, and stones. The lava streams were confined to the northern slopes of the mountain, and at Tobockan they nearly destroyed the whole village.