Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has raised the alert level to the maximum for the eruption of the Ruang volcano, located in the province of North Sulawesi. The country's authorities have requested the "immediate" evacuation of the population within a six-kilometer radius of the volcano, while warning of the risk of tsunami in the area.
Volcanic activity in the area was high since early April. Last Tuesday the 16th, the volcano expelled a column of smoke and ash about 2,000 meters high, which increased to 3,000 meters during the day on Wednesday, "accompanied by roaring sounds and an earthquake that was also noted at the observation post of the Ruang volcano". Since yesterday, thousands of people have been evacuated. There are also dozens of injured, although at the moment no official data is known.
"Residents of Tagulandang Island, especially those residing near the beach, should be alert to the risk of projections of incandescent rocks, clouds of fire and tsunamis caused by the collapse of the volcano mass into the sea," he explained. this Wednesday in a statement the director of the Indonesian Investigation Bureau, Hendra Gunawan.
Authorities announced the evacuation of 11,000 people in the area near the volcano, which includes the island of Tagulandang, where about 20,000 people live. Some residents tried to flee in panic, according to authorities. "Last night, people were evacuated on their own, in disarray, due to the eruption of the volcano and the materials and small stones that fell," Jandry Paendong, a relief agency official, said in a news release Thursday.
There is fear in the country of a repeat of the 2018 episode, when the crater of the Anak Krakatoa volcano, located between the islands of Java and Sumatra, partially collapsed during a large eruption, causing a tsunami that killed more than four hundred people.
It is not a new situation in the country. Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes significant volcanic and seismic activity. Currently, the country has about 130 active volcanoes.
The Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, the main airport in the province of North Sulawesi, closed this Thursday "until further notice" after detecting volcanic ash through field observations, as reported by the Antara news agency.
The volcano's crater ignited and spewed lava overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, prompting authorities to raise the alert level to the highest on a scale of four. The volcano, located on a small island in the northern province of Sulawesi, in an isolated part of the archipelago, was still releasing a column of smoke on Thursday morning.
"The public is recommended to always wear a mask to avoid being exposed to volcanic ash, which can affect the respiratory system," said the BNPB, which has called on residents in the area to "stay calm" and "not are provoked by rumors about the Ruang eruption.
