Mount Semeru Outburst in Indonesia Triggers Evacuations
The nation's Mount Semeru, the tallest summit on Java island, has erupted, blanketing multiple communities with falling ash, prompting evacuations and causing officials to elevate the warning to the highest level.
The volcano in East Java province released blistering plumes of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that moved up to 4 miles down its sides several times from midday to evening, while a thick column of hot clouds rose 2km into the sky, as stated by Indonesia’s Geology Agency.
The eruptions that unfolded throughout the day compelled authorities to raise the volcano’s alert level twice, from the level three to the highest, the agency reported. No casualties have been reported.
Over three hundred inhabitants in the three communities most endangered in the district of Lumajang were evacuated to official safe havens, as mentioned by a representative for the national emergency management body.
He said that increased activity of the volcano on the afternoon of Wednesday prompted officials to widen the hazard area to 8km from the summit. People were urged to stay clear from an area along the Kobokan River, which is the path of the lava flow, as searing gas flowed down Semeru’s slopes.
Footage on social media showed a dense cloud of ash sweeping through a forested valley to a river beneath a overpass. Residents, some with faces covered with ash and water, fled to makeshift refuges or left for other safe areas.
Regional news outlets indicated that emergency teams were struggling to rescue about 178 individuals stranded on the 12,060-foot peak at the Ranu Kumbolo observation station. The group included 137 hikers, 15 porters, seven guides and six tourism officials, according to an spokesperson with the national park.
“They remain secure at Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post,” an official said in a video statement. He said the post was located 4.5km from the summit on the north side of the mountain, which is outside the trajectory of the hot cloud flow that was observed moving to the southeast direction. Inclement conditions and precipitation forced the group to remain overnight there, he explained.
The volcano, also known as Great Mountain, has erupted numerous times in the last two centuries. However, as is the situation with many of the 129 live volcanoes in the archipelago, thousands of people continue to live on its productive highlands.
The mountain's last major eruption was in late 2021, when 51 individuals were killed and hundreds more were injured and settlements were buried in thick mud. The event led to the relocation of over ten thousand people from their houses.
The country, an island chain of more than 280 million inhabitants, is located along the Pacific seismic belt, a curved series of fault lines, and is prone to earthquakes and volcanism.
