 Eleven volcanoes are under close watch in Indonesia after a series of powerful quakes awoke intense subterranean forces and increased the chances of a major eruption, scientists have said. As tens of thousands of people spent a third night in temporary camps after fleeing the slopes of Mount Talang on Sumatra island, where hot ash has been raining down since Monday, more volcanoes began rumbling. Late on Wednesday, Anak Krakatau - the "child" of the legendary Krakatoa that blew itself apart in 1883 in one of the worst natural disasters recorded - was put on alert status amid warnings of poisonous gas emissions. No one lives on Krakatau, which forms a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, but the peak is a popular tourist spot, attracting Indonesian and foreign day-trippers. |