Emergency services were mobilized Thursday in Indonesia to evacuate several thousand people threatened by an erupting volcano in the north of the archipelago after an alert of a risk of a tsunami if debris from the volcano falls into the sea.
In Indonesia, the Ruang volcano has experienced five eruptions since Tuesday and projected a cloud of ash more than a kilometer high into the sky, forcing the Ministry of Transport to close the Manado international airport located more than a hundred of kilometers.
The volcano’s crater ignited and spewed lava during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, prompting authorities to raise the alert level to the highest on a scale of four.
The volcano, located on a small island in the northern province of Celebes, in an isolated area of the archipelago, was still releasing a column of smoke Thursday morning. Houses on the neighboring island of Tagulandang are riddled with holes from falling volcanic rocks and residents are preparing to leave, at least temporarily.
Some 11,000 evacuations
Authorities announced the evacuation of 11,000 people in the area near the volcano, which includes the island of Tagulandang, where around 20,000 people live. Some residents tried to flee in panic, according to authorities.
A team of around twenty people is evacuating residents living along the coast facing the volcano on inflatable boats. Authorities also evacuated a prison on the island of Tagulandang, transporting 17 inmates as well as 11 staff and 19 residents by boat to the seaport of Likupang in northern Sulawesi island, according to rescue officials. The evacuation was requested by the prison director, because the establishment is located directly opposite the volcano.
Locals and tourists have been urged not to go more than six kilometers from the volcano.
More than 800 people had already been moved from Ruang to the neighboring island of Tagulandang after the first eruption on Tuesday evening, before four more eruptions occurred on Wednesday.
Tsunami alert
Authorities also warned of a possible risk of a tsunami. “Residents of Tagulandang Island, especially those residing near the beach, should be on alert for the risk of incandescent rock projections, fiery clouds and tsunami caused by the collapse of the volcano mass in the sea,” Hendra Gunawan, director of the Indonesian Volcanology Agency, said on Wednesday.
The authorities’ fears have been reinforced by previous disasters. In 2018, the crater of the Anak Krakatoa volcano, located between the islands of Java and Sumatra, partially collapsed during an eruption, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 400 people. Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes significant volcanic and seismic activity. The country has nearly 130 active volcanoes.
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The eruption of Mount Ruang also led to the closure of Manado International Airport, located more than 100 kilometers from the volcano, for 24 hours until Thursday evening.
ats/iar
