Volcano Mahameru Outburst in Indonesia Prompts Evacuations
Indonesia's Mount Semeru, the highest peak on Java island, has exploded, blanketing multiple communities with volcanic ash, leading to evacuations and causing officials to elevate the alert to the maximum level.
The volcano in the province of East Java released blistering plumes of hot ash and a combination of stone, molten rock, and gases that travelled up to 7km down its slopes several times from midday to dusk, while a dense plume of hot clouds rose 2km into the air, as stated by Indonesia’s Geology Agency.
The eruptions that unfolded throughout the day forced authorities to raise the mountain's warning status on two occasions, from the level three to the highest, the agency said. No casualties have been reported.
Over three hundred residents in the three communities most endangered in the district of Lumajang were relocated to government shelters, as mentioned by a spokesperson for the national disaster mitigation agency.
He said that increased activity of the mountain on the afternoon of Wednesday prompted officials to expand the danger zone to 5 miles from the crater. Residents were urged to stay clear from an area along the Besuk Kobokan River, which is the path of the lava flow, as searing gas moved down the volcano's sides.
Footage on online platforms showed a thick plume of ash sweeping through a wooded ravine to a river beneath a bridge. Locals, some with faces covered with volcanic dust and rain, escaped to makeshift refuges or left for other safe areas.
Regional news outlets indicated that authorities were facing challenges to rescue about 178 people trapped on the 3,676-metre mountain at the Ranu Kumbolo monitoring post. The party included 137 climbers, 15 porters, seven guides and six travel representatives, according to an spokesperson with the national park.
“They remain secure at the Ranu Kumbolo station,” a spokesperson said in a video statement. He noted the station was situated 2.8 miles from the summit on the north side of the volcano, which is outside the trajectory of the hot cloud flow that was seen moving to the south-southeast. Inclement conditions and precipitation forced the group to remain overnight there, he explained.
The volcano, also known as Great Mountain, has erupted many occasions in the last two centuries. However, as is the situation with many of the 129 active volcanoes in the archipelago, tens of thousands of people continue to live on its productive highlands.
Semeru’s last major eruption was in December 2021, when 51 people were lost their lives and hundreds others were injured and villages were submerged in layers of mud. The event forced the relocation of more than 10,000 residents from their houses.
Indonesia, an archipelago of over 280 million inhabitants, is located along the Pacific seismic belt, a horseshoe-shaped series of tectonic boundaries, and is susceptible to earthquakes and volcanism.