Mount Semeru Eruption in Indonesia Prompts Evacuations
The nation's Semeru volcano, the highest peak on Java island, has erupted, covering multiple communities with volcanic ash, prompting evacuations and leading authorities to raise the alert to the highest level.
The mountain in the province of East Java unleashed blistering plumes of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7km down its sides multiple times from midday to dusk, while a dense plume of hot clouds rose 2km into the air, according to the nation's geological authority.
The eruptions that unfolded throughout the day forced authorities to increase the volcano’s alert level on two occasions, from the third-highest level to the highest, the agency said. No casualties have been reported.
Over three hundred inhabitants in the three communities most at risk in the area of Lumajang were relocated to official safe havens, as mentioned by a representative for the national emergency management body.
He said that heightened volcanic movements of the volcano on Wednesday afternoon led officials to widen the danger zone to 5 miles from the crater. Residents were urged to stay clear from an area along the Kobokan River, which is the route of the lava flow, as searing gas moved down Semeru’s slopes.
Footage on social media showed a thick plume of ash sweeping through a wooded ravine to a river beneath a overpass. Residents, some with faces smeared with volcanic dust and rain, fled to makeshift refuges or departed for other safe areas.
Regional news outlets reported that emergency teams were struggling to rescue about 178 individuals stranded on the 3,676-metre mountain at the Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post. The group included 137 hikers, 15 carriers, seven guides and six travel representatives, according to an official with the protected area.
“They remain secure at Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post,” an official said in a video statement. He noted the post was situated 4.5km from the crater on the north side of the mountain, which is not in the path of the hot cloud flow that was seen moving to the south-southeast. Bad weather and precipitation required the team to spend the night there, he explained.
Semeru, also known as Great Mountain, has erupted numerous times in the last two centuries. Still, as is the case with many of the 129 live volcanoes in Indonesia, thousands of people still to reside on its fertile slopes.
The mountain's last major eruption was in December 2021, when 51 people were lost their lives and several hundred more were burned and villages were submerged in thick mud. The eruption led to the relocation of more than 10,000 residents from their homes.
The country, an island chain of over 280 million people, sits along the Pacific seismic belt, a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines, and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
