A year after a deadly catastrophe, the volcano is once again threatening populated areas. No casualties were immediately reported, but authorities asked residents to stay at least five miles from the crater.
Indonesia’s Semeru volcano erupted on Sunday, spewing out a colossal plume of ash that forced residents of villages on its side to flee, a year to the day after another eruption killed dozens.
Villagers living in the shadow of Mount Semeru on east Java island, where it is the highest point at 3,676 meters, fled by the dozen as the 1.5km-tall ash plume approached, taking what they could with them. According to the emergency services, almost 2,000 of them were evacuated.
Three of them walked on motorbikes as local authorities sounded the alarm with bamboo drums and the sky darkened like the middle of the night, monsoon rain mixing with ash, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Rescue services reported “flaming avalanches” caused by blocks of lava breaking off the summit during the eruption and pouring towards the base of the volcano.
No casualties were immediately reported, but authorities asked residents to stay at least five miles from the crater. They also asked people to avoid a 13km-long area along a river south-east of Mount Semeru where the volcanic ash cloud was moving.
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Prevention (PVMBG) has raised the alert level around Mount Semeru from level three to the highest level four, its spokesman Hendra Gunawan told Kompas TV. “This means that populated areas are at risk and that the activity of the volcano has increased,” he explained.
rain and ash
“It was dark and it was raining. The rain consisted not only of water, but also of volcanic ash. It was like mud,” said an AFP journalist in Lumajang, where the volcano is located. “There was no sound or earthquake at all, but suddenly warm clouds came down,” he testified.
According to the emergency services, a total of 1,979 people from six villages have been relocated to 11 emergency shelters opened for the occasion. Authorities also distributed masks to residents to protect them from air pollution from the ash.
After the outbreak, according to an AFP journalist, the internet was cut and the mobile network was disrupted.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency has warned of a possible tsunami caused by the eruption of the Indonesian volcano on the islands of Miyako and Yaeyama in the extreme south of the Japanese archipelago, according to the Kyoto agency. But nothing of the sort ultimately happened.
Exactly one year ago, on December 4, 2021, Mount Semeru had already erupted and killed at least 51 people. Mudslides and ash engulfed villages and nearly 10,000 people had to flee their homes. Another eruption took place two days later.
Read alsoShould we fear an explosion of volcanic activity?
A bridge connecting two districts in the region, which was rebuilt after last year’s eruption, was badly damaged again, according to the PVMBG on Sunday.
Indonesia lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the collision of continental plates causes intense volcanic and seismic activity. The Southeast Asian archipelago has about 130 active volcanoes.
SEE ALSO – Hawaii: Mauna Loa, the world’s largest volcano, has erupted