No less than 2,510 hotspots, indicating the presence of forest fires, were spotted by satellites throughout the ASEAN region from September 4-7.

The number of hotspots in the Southeast Asian region vacillated though tending to increase, said Mulyono R. Prabowo, deputy head of the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

On the basis of monitoring by the Terra Aqua MODIS, SNPP, NOAA20, and Himawari-8 satellites in the region, a total of 727 hotspots were found on September 4, 516 on September 5, 619 on September 6, and 648 on September 7.

The hotspots were observed in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Timor Leste, and Thailand. No transboundary haze was detected in spite of the presence of hotspots.

The agency has urged the public to remain vigilant of likely forest fires, air pollution, and drought. Indonesia has been facing a severe dry season induced by El Nino that triggered drought and forest fires in several provinces this year.

Eight provinces in Indonesia are susceptible to forest fires, but only six have declared an emergency status for forest fires from 90 to 323 days, an official from the Indonesian Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry noted recently.-VNA