(Lumajang) The Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupted on Sunday, spitting out a colossal cloud of ash that sent residents of villages on its side fleeing, a year to the day after another eruption that killed dozens.
Villagers living in the shadow of Mount Semeru, located in the east of the island of Java, where it is the highest point at 3676 meters, fled by the dozens as the 1.5 km high ash cloud approached , taking what they could. According to the emergency services, nearly 2,000 of them were evacuated.
Some left in threes on motorbikes as local authorities sounded the alarm with bamboo drums and the sky darkened like the middle of the night, monsoon rain mingling with ash, according to a reporter from the AFP on site.
Rescue services reported “burning avalanches”, caused by blocks of lava that broke off from the summit during the eruption and surged towards the base of the volcano.
No casualties were immediately reported, but authorities asked residents to stay at least five miles from the crater.
They also asked people to avoid a 13 km long area along a river southeast of Mount Semeru, towards which the volcanic ash cloud was moving.
The Center for Volcanology and Prevention of Geological Disasters (PVMBG) has raised the alert level around Mount Semeru from level three to the highest level four, its spokesperson Hendra Gunawan told Kompas TV.
“This means that danger threatens populated areas and the activity of the volcano has intensified,” he explained.
Rain and ashes
“It was dark and it was raining. The rain was not only composed of water, but also of volcanic ash. It was like mud,” said an AFP journalist in Lumajang, where the volcano is located.
“There was no noise or earthquake at all, but suddenly warm clouds descended,” he testified.
According to the emergency services, a total of 1,979 people from six villages have been relocated to 11 shelters opened for the occasion. Authorities also distributed masks to residents to protect them from air pollution from the ash.
After the eruption, the internet was cut and the mobile telephone network was faulty, according to an AFP journalist.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency has for its part warned of a possible tsunami, caused by the eruption of the Indonesian volcano, in the islands of Miyako and Yaeyama, in the extreme south of the Japanese archipelago, according to the Kyodo agency. . But nothing like that ultimately happened.
Exactly a year ago, on December 4, 2021, Mount Semeru had already erupted, killing at least 51 people. Mudslides and ash engulfed villages and nearly 10,000 people had to flee their homes. Another eruption took place two days later.
A bridge linking two districts in the region, being rebuilt after last year’s eruption, was heavily damaged again on Sunday, according to the PVMBG.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes strong volcanic and seismic activity. The Southeast Asian archipelago has about 130 active volcanoes.