Erupting volcano could set off tsunami
Thousands of villagers are being evacuated and flights have been cancelled amid warnings of a potential tsunami as an island volcano in Indonesia continues to spew lava and send clouds of ash miles into the sky
Videos posted on social media showed a glowing cloud shot with streaks of lightning above Mt Ruang, a small island off Sulawesi province. The volcano has erupted five times since Tuesday.
The Indonesian government has imposed a 6km exclusion zone around the mountain, which includes parts of the neighbouring island of Tagulandang, where 11,000 people out of a population of 20,000 have been ordered to evacuate. Indonesia has appealed for mats, blankets, washing supplies and tents for more than 800 people from villages on the slopes of Ruang taken to safety earlier.
Ikram al-Ulah, a rescue worker, said: “Some homes on Tagulandang have been damaged by falling rocks. Many people are still wandering around, maybe to evacuate precious goods from their houses.”
Indonesia is one of the world’s most seismically active regions, with frequent earthquakes and 127 active volcanoes. An 1871 eruption on Ruang, which is 725 metres high, triggered a tsunami that wiped out an entire village on Tagulandang.
In 2018, the eruption of Anak Krakatau volcano caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java after parts of the mountain collapsed into the sea.
Anak Krakatau is the remnant of the infamous Krakatoa, whose eruption in 1883 killed 36,000 people and changed weather patterns across the world for several years.
The international airport in the Sulawesi city of Manado was closed yesterday because of the large volumes of ash being pumped into the atmosphere and the effect these can have on aircraft engines. Air Asia cancelled flights to nine airports in Malaysia and Brunei.
Ambar Suryoko, head of the regional airport authority, said: “We have to close flight operations due to the spread of volcanic ash, which could endanger flights.”
In 1982, a British Airways 747 plane flying over Java en route to Australia had a brush with disaster when its engines failed after becoming clogged with ash from Mt Galunggung as it erupted below.