The Indonesian Ruang volcano erupted again this Tuesday, after an increase in volcanic activity two weeks ago, and released a cloud of ash up to 5,000 meters high, which caused the alert to be raised to the maximum level IV and the beginning of the evacuation of thousands of residents.
The new eruption also affected air traffic and four internal flights in Malaysia operated by the airline AirAsia between Kuala Lumpur and the city of Tawau, in the west of the island of Borneo, were canceled for "security" reasons.
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG, acronym in Indonesian) indicated in a statement that the volcano, located in the central area of the archipelago, erupted at 08:35 local time and that volcanic activity remains active.
"Communities around Mount Ruang and tourists should be on alert and not approach within a radius of 7 kilometers," said the Indonesian agency, which raised the alert from level III to IV and expanded the security radius.
The disaster management agency (BNPB, acronym in Indonesian) indicated today in a statement that the activity of Ruang increased from Monday night and early today, with hundreds of "volcanic earthquakes" and small eruptions of ash and rocks. .
The eruptions affected an emergency post in the Apengsala village, located within a 7-kilometer radius of the volcano on the neighboring island of Tagulandang, where authorities temporarily cut off electricity for safety.
BNPB estimates that between 11,000 and 12,000 people are being evacuated, because their homes are within the exclusion radius, and extended the state of emergency until May 13.
When the volcano erupted several times two weeks ago, emergency services evacuated more than 800 residents of the Ruang volcano island and hundreds of residents of the neighboring island of Tagulandang, with about 22,000 inhabitants and about 4 kilometers north of the Ruang crater.
Then, the eruptions caused small earthquakes and ash clouds forced the temporary closure of the Manado international airport, on the island of Sulawesi, located south of the Ruang volcano, as well as the suspension of flights by the Malaysian airline Malaysia Airlines in Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia).
The Ruang volcano is about 725 meters high and is located on a small island of the same name about 5 kilometers wide.
Indonesia is home to more than 400 volcanoes, of which at least 129 remain active and 65 are classified as dangerous.
In December 2023, the sudden eruption of the Merapi volcano, on the island of Sumatra, claimed the lives of 23 people.
Indonesia sits within the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity that is shaken by about 7,000 earthquakes a year, most of them of small magnitude.
