After days of violent lava, rock, and ash eruptions from the Ruang volcano, Indonesia closed a provincial airport and evacuated hundreds of residents from the area, officials said on Thursday, issuing a state of emergency.
The volcano on a secluded island in the province of North Sulawesi erupted dramatically on Wednesday, shooting a bright red column of lava, glowing rock, and ash up to two miles (three kilometers) into the sky.
Videos posted on social media revealed purple bursts of lightning ripping across the sky above the erupting volcano.
As they hurried to escape, a witness who was filming the eruption exclaimed, “We’re running, folks.” “The ash is getting closer, so we are fleeing.”
With the volcanology agency’s alert status being upgraded, more than 800 people were evacuated from the region, and the evacuation zone was expanded by the authorities.
Citing a sharp increase in volcanic activity, agency spokesman Heruningtyas Desi Purnamasari warned reporters on Thursday that “the risk for further eruption is very strong, so we need to be watchful.”
The official added that the agency had received reports of residences being damaged by falling boulders and ash, and that a nearby hospital had to be evacuated.
In order to shield Manado, the province capital, from the eruption’s ash rains, the transport authorities closed the airport.
Following a warning from aviation authorities about a potential safety hazard, low-cost carrier Air Asia canceled flights with nine airports in East Malaysia and Brunei.
A spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency, Abdul Muhari, stated that further people are being evacuated from the neighboring island of Tagulandang, as authorities have closed off a six-kilometer (4-mile) radius around the volcano.
He continued, saying that some 1,500 people in high-risk locations required emergency evacuation, and over 12,000 more could be impacted.
In addition, authorities have warned of the possibility of a tsunami should portions of the mountain collapse into the water below. When the volcano erupted in 1871, a tsunami that killed about 400 people was released.
(Reuters)
