Jakarta: Indonesia's Ibu volcano erupted on Monday morning, spewing thick columns of grey ash several kilometres into the sky, the country's volcanology agency said. The volcano on the remote island of Halmahera erupted at 9.12 am for about five minutes, projecting ash into the sky as high as 5 km (3.1 miles), officials said, after a smaller eruption was recorded as Friday.
The alert status of the volcano remains at the second-highest level, according to Hendra Gunawan, head of Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre. All activities within a five-kilometre radius of the volcano were prohibited, he added. "If it starts to rain ash, we recommend people who are near the volcano to wear a mask and glasses," Hendra said.
Footage of the eruption shared by the centre showed clouds of grey ash billowing from the crater. The official said a booming noise was also heard. No evacuation of residents has been reported so far.
Watch video of the volcano:
This came almost two weeks after the Mount Ruang volcano erupted last month, spewing lava as lightning flashes lit up its crater, prompting authorities to raise the alert status and evacuate more than 12,000 people living on a nearby island. The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) had warned the residents of Tagulandang island that a tsunami could be triggered by volcanic material collapsing into the ocean.
Several airports, including Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, were closed after the eruption. Schools were shut to protect children from volcanic ash. The agency had previously raised the alert status of Ruang to the highest level following the early morning eruption, urging residents not to go near the volcano.
Ruang is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a series of fault lines stretching from the western coast of the Americas through Japan and Southeast Asia.
In December, more than 20 people were killed after Marapi volcano, one of Sumatra's most active volcanoes, erupted and belched grey clouds of ash as high as 3 km. This was the deadliest eruption since 1979, when an a similar incident killed 60 people. It last erupted in January and February this year.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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