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Thousands more evacuated after second Ruang eruption
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Some 330 residents evacuated from Sitaro Islands regency, North Sulawesi, amid the eruption of Mount Ruang (background) leave Tagulandang on May 1, 2024, for Bitung aboard the Indonesian Navy’s KRI Kakap. (Antara/Andri Saputra)
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uthorities are evacuating thousands more residents living near Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi after it erupted for a second time in a month, with officials planning to permanently empty out two villages at the foot of the volcano.
Mount Ruang, located in the middle of Ruang Island off the coast of Sulawesi, erupted on Tuesday, spewing volcanic ash up to 2,000 meters in the air.
The first eruption of the 725-meter-high volcano was recorded on April 17, following weeks of heightened volcanic activity and multiple earthquakes.
After the first eruption, authorities downgraded the alert level to tier 3 last week before bumping it back to level 4 on Tuesday, the highest alert level in the national system.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has set up a 7 kilometer exclusion zone extending from the crater of the volcano after the most recent eruption. It contains parts of the nearby Tagulandang Island.
Tagulandang Island has been without power since the last eruption, and several houses on the island have been damaged by falling volcanic debris.
As of Thursday, the disaster agency had not received any reports of deaths or injuries related to the eruption.
