Jakarta: A dramatic eruption of Mount Ibu on the remote Indonesian island of Halmahera has led to the evacuation of residents from seven nearby villages, according to authorities on Sunday.
Abdul Muhari, a representative of the disaster mitigation agency, stated that a joint team of police, military, and search and rescue officials was dispatched to evacuate residents from the affected areas.
The eruption, which occurred on Saturday evening, sent a towering ash cloud 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) into the sky, accompanied by striking purple lightning around the crater. These details, along with images, were provided by Indonesia’s volcanology agency.
Photos from the disaster agency depicted authorities assisting elderly residents and others being transported in pick-up trucks to emergency tents set up for the night. The exact number of evacuees was not disclosed, but authorities have recommended clearing a radius of 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) around the volcano.
Indonesia’s volcanology agency had already raised Mt. Ibu’s alert level to the highest on Thursday, following multiple eruptions earlier this month.
Mt. Ibu’s eruption is part of a series of volcanic activities in Indonesia, a country situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and home to 127 active volcanoes.
Earlier this month, flash floods and cold lava flow from Mount Marapi in West Sumatra, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, devastated several districts following torrential rain, resulting in over 60 fatalities.
Additionally, the Ruang volcano in North Sulawesi recently erupted, spewing incandescent lava and forcing the evacuation of over 12,000 people from a nearby island.
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