Mount Ibu Volcano Erupts in Indonesia, Prompting Evacuations
Indonesian authorities have evacuated residents of seven villages within a nearly four-mile radius of Mount Ibu, a volcano on the remote island of Halmahera in Indonesia, after it erupted and spewed ash about 2.5 miles into the sky.
According to Reuters, Mount Ibu erupted on Saturday night, creating a spectacle of gray ash and flashes of purple lightning in the sky. A crew consisting of police, military, and search and rescue services was dispatched to the area to assist with evacuations.
Residents were moved out of the area in pickup trucks and taken to emergency tents to spend the night. The disaster mitigation agency did not specify how many people had been evacuated, but authorities recommended a seven-kilometer (4.35-mile) radius be cleared.
Mount Ibu had previously erupted last Monday for about five minutes, and then again on May 10. The eruptions prompted the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation to raise the alert level for the volcano from 2 to 3, the second-highest level.
Officials have advised residents and tourists to stay at least three miles away from the volcano’s crater. More than 13,000 people live within a 3-mile radius of the northern side of the crater.
Mount Ibu is a 4,347-foot volcano located on the northwest coast of the remote island of Halmahera. Indonesia, with 120 active volcanoes, is prone to volcanic activity due to its location along the “Ring of Fire,” a series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
Recent volcanic activity in Indonesia includes the eruption of North Sulawesi’s Ruang volcano, which prompted the evacuation of over 12,000 people from a nearby island. Additionally, flash floods and “cold lava” from Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province resulted in the deaths of more than 60 people after heavy rains.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
