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Evacuation order issued for 11,000 people after North Sulawesi volcano eruption
The Indonesian volcanic hazard authority has raised the alert status of Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi to the red level, with potential hot rocks, hot clouds and tsunamis putting residents living around the volcano in danger.
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This handout photograph taken and released by the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation on April 17, 2024, shows Mount Ruang spewing hot lava and smoke as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi. The volcano erupted several times in one of Indonesia's outermost regions overnight on April 17, forcing hundreds of people to be evacuated after it spewed lava and a column of smoke more than a mile into the sky. (AFP/Handout/Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation)
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he National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has ordered more than 11,000 residents living around Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi to evacuate their homes following an increase in its eruption intensity that has prompted the authorities to raise the volcano’s alert status to red.
Late Wednesday, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) raised the alert status into the awas (warning) level, the highest level of the country’s four-tier volcano alert system. In one of the largest eruptions recorded that day, occurring at around 9 p.m. local time, the volcano spewed hot ash that reached 3,000 meters in height.
The first eruption of the 725-meter-high Mt. Ruang was recorded on Tuesday, following weeks of heightened volcanic activity, including multiple earthquakes, since earlier this month.
As of Thursday morning, the volcano was still spewing volcanic ash that reached up to 800 m in height, with increased high volcanic activity and the potential for another eruption.
The highest alert level requires people, both residents and visitors, to avoid areas within 6 kilometers of the crater, which includes some parts of Tagulandang Island next to the volcano.
Mt. Ruang is located in the middle of the Sangihe Islands in Sitaro regency, North Sulawesi; around 110 km from the provincial capital of Manado.
“Residents of Tagulandang Island, especially those who live near the beach, must be cautious of the potential hurling of incandescent rocks, hot clouds and tsunamis caused by volcanic projectiles that land in the sea,” PVMBG head Hendra Gunawan said on late Wednesday.
