Jakarta:

Ibu volcano in Indonesia’s Halmahera Island erupted again, sending volcanic ash as high as 5,000 metre to its peak, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said.

The eruption occurred at 11:36 a.m. local time on Monday for more than two minutes, and the thick ash column leaned towards the southwest and west, said Ibu Volcano Observation Post Officer Ridwan Djalil on Monday as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

The center raised its hazardous status from level three to four, the highest, on May 16, following a significant increase in the mountain’s recent activity.

Local people are asked to avoid the danger zone within a 4 km radius and 7 km in the northern sector of the crater.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jakarta:

A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted on Wednesday and spewed an ash tower almost a mile into the sky, prompting officials to raise an alert level to the second-highest and warn people to keep away.

Mount Ibu, located on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, erupted at 11:11 am local time (0211 GMT) and sent a thick column of dark smoke and ash above the peak.

The volcano spewed an ash tower 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) above the peak, Indonesia’s volcanology agency (PVMBG) said.

“Based on the results of visual and instrumental monitoring… Mount Ibu’s activity level has been raised from level two to level three” of a four-tiered system, said PVMBG chief Hendra Gunawan in a statement Wednesday.

Authorities formed an exclusion zone between three and five kilometres around the volcano’s crater.

Hendra urged nearby residents to wear face masks and glasses when doing outdoor activities and to prepare for falling volcanic ash.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

Last month, Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi Province erupted more than half a dozen times, forcing thousands of residents of nearby islands to evacuate.

It erupted again last week and remains at the highest alert level of a four-tiered system.

All of the 800 or so residents of Ruang island have been permanently relocated.

The Sam Ratulangi International Airport in the city of Manado, located more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the crater, was shut for days because of volcanic ash. It has since re-opened.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mount Ruang volcano erupts in Sitaro, North Sulawesi, on April 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A remote volcano in Indonesia’s outermost region erupted again on April 19, local authorities and an AFP journalist said, after the crater threw up columns of smoke and lava multiple times this week and forced thousands to evacuate.

“The volcano erupts again,” said the AFP journalist on the island of Tagulandang which neighbours Mount Ruang.

The country’s volcanology agency later confirmed the eruption sent a plume of smoke 400 metres (1,312 feet) above the peak.

“There was an eruption of Mt Ruang, North Sulawesi” at 1706 local time, 0906 GMT, it said.

“The ash column was observed to be grey in colour… and leaning towards the south.”

While officials said Ruang had started to calm Friday, authorities maintained the highest alert level on a four-tiered system, which indicates high volcanic activity.

They also told residents to remain more than six kilometres (four miles) from the crater.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.