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Indonesia’s Mount Chief, the highest on the island of Java, erupted on Wednesday, pelting many villages with falling ash, prompting evacuations and leading authorities to raise the highest level of warning.
Mount Semeru in East Java Province released pouring clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that traveled seven kilometers down its slopes in the tropics, the geology agency Indoy’s said in a statement.
The eruption of the object that occurred throughout the day forced to raise the level of awareness of the volcano twice, from the third level to the highest, said the agency. No injuries were reported.
More than 300 residents in the three most vulnerable villages in the Lumajang district have been evacuated from government shelters, said national disaster spokesman Abdul Muhari.
He said that the additional activity of the volcano on Wednesday afternoon was prompted by the authorities to expand the danger zone to eight kilometers from the crater. People are advised to stay away from the area of the Betuk Kobokan River, which is the source of the lava flow, as the burning gas flows down the slopes of Semeru.
Videos on social media showed a thick cloud of ash sweeping through a forested valley to the river below the bridge. Residents, some with faces smeared with volcanic dust and rain, fled to makeshift shelters or left for other safer places.
Local media reported that authorities are fighting to rescue about 178 people trapped on the 3,676-meter Ranu Kumbolo Monitoring Post. This group includes 137 riders, 15 passengers, seven guides and six tourism officials, according to the Bromo-tengger Park (TNBTS) official.
“Right now they are safe at Ranu Kumbolo Monitoring Post,” endrip Wahyutama, spokesperson for TNBTS, adding that the post is located in the northern kilometers located in the south-west south-southeast. Bad weather and rain forced them to spend the night there, he said.
Indonesia’s Mount Meru erupted on Wednesday, spewing sickly clouds of ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas down its slopes. The eruption covered villages with ash, prompting evacuations and leading authorities to raise the level of awareness of the tallest mountain in Java Island to the highest.
Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has erupted several times in the past 200 years. Nevertheless, as with many of Indonesia’s 129 active volcanoes, tens of thousands of people continue to live on its fertile slopes.
The last major eruption of Semeru was in December 2021, when 51 people were killed and several others were buried in villages buried in mud. The explosion forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. The government relocated about 2,970 houses in the dangerous area.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 280 million people, lives in the pacific “ring of fire,” a chain shaped by horses of fault lines, and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
