Indonesian authorities evacuated this Sunday about 2,000 people and decreed the maximum alert after the Mount Semeru volcanoon the island of Java, erupted in an area hard hit by a similar situation exactly one year ago.
“Mount Semeru went from level three to level four” alertIndonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) reported.
“That means that the population is in danger and the activity of the volcano has intensified,” PVMBG spokesman Hendra Gunawan told Kompas TV, the AFP news agency reported.
According to the rescue services, 1,979 people from six towns were evacuated and transferred to 11 shelters while the inhabitants of the towns adjoining the mount fled before a huge ash cloud arrived.
“The population is in danger and the activity of the volcano intensified”
The local authorities sounded the alarm with bamboo drums and the sky darkened as if it were midnight.with a monsoon rain that was mixed with ash.
Rescue services reported “fiery avalanches”, caused by blocks of lava that broke off the summit during the eruption and flowed towards the base of the volcano.
At the moment there are no victimsbut Gunawan advised residents to stay at least five miles from the volcano’s crater.
Authorities also asked people to avoid a 13-kilometre-long area located next to a river in the southeast of Mount Semeru, towards which a cloud of volcanic ash was heading.
“It was dark and it was raining. The rain was not just water, it had volcanic ash on it. It was like mud,” said an AFP journalist in Lumajang, where the volcano is located.
“There was no noise or tremors, but suddenly hot clouds appeared”he added.
In a video from the local relief group Irannala Rescue, a huge cloud is seen rising above the crater to hide the sun. In other images, neighboring towns are seen covered in ash.
The Mount Semeru volcano, on the island of Java, erupted and the Indonesian authorities declared a maximum alert in the area, severely punished by a similar situation exactly one year ago. pic.twitter.com/x2LS8rPdgx
– Telam Agency (@AgenciaTelam) December 4, 2022
The authorities opened centers to contain the displaced and distributed masks to the inhabitants to protect them from contamination and ash.
After the eruption, the internet was cut off and the telephone network had faults.
Background
The volcano’s last eruption, exactly one year ago, killed at least 51 people.
Flows of mud and ash engulfed entire villages and almost 10,000 people had to leave their homes. Another eruption took place two days later.
A bridge connecting two districts in the region, which had been under reconstruction since last year, was heavily damaged on Sunday, according to the PVMBG.
Indonesia is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the clash of tectonic plates causes strong volcanic and seismic activity.
The Southeast Asian archipelago has almost 130 active volcanoes
