Earthquakes and volcanic eruption go hand-in-hand in Indonesian island Sumatra so it is wise to keep a close watch on the recurrance of quakes and following developments in the region, says a senior volcanologist. There are more than 200 volcano lines along the Sumatra fault running parallel to the subduction zone. During March 2007 earthquake, the Talang volcano showed increased volcanic activity throwing ash plumes, Dr D Chandrasekharam, a volcanologist at IIT here said.

The current series of seismic activities are lined over the active Sumatra fault close to three active volcanoes Marapi, Talang and Tandikat, he said. The entire subduction zone, extending from Java to north Andaman islands appears to be seismically very active as evident from the recurring earthquakes in the recent few weeks and it is better that the authorities in that region keep a close watch on the volcanic activities also to save lives, he said.

Considering the depth of focus of the series of earthquakes that occurred close to these volcanoes (104 km) strongly indicate melting of the deeper segment of the subducting Australian plate below these regions, the scientist said.

Krakatau between Jakarta and Sumatra and Toba towards the eastern part of Padang (the current loci of series of earthquakes) are the deadly volcanoes that erupted violently in the recent past.

Perhaps it is wise to keep a watch on the activity of these volcanoes in the light of recurring earthquakes over Sumatra, he reiterated. The southern Sumatra region is active since December 2008 with the occurrence of 5.9 magnitude tremor followed by 7.4 magnitude quake on September 3 near Java.

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