Indonesia: the Semeru volcano on the island of Java erupts
The Semeru volcano on the island of Java erupts.
PA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Semeru volcano on the island of Java erupted on Sunday and authorities declared maximum alert, a year after a deadly disaster in which thousands of people had been displaced.
Advertising
Read more
Located in the east of the island of Java, of which it is the highest point with an altitude of 3,676 meters, Mount Semeru spat an ash cloud about 1.5 kilometers high on Sunday.
No casualties were reported immediately after the eruption, but the PVMBG spokesperson advised nearby residents to keep at least 8 kilometers away from the crater.
Authorities also asked people to avoid a 13-kilometre-long area along a river, towards which the volcanic ash cloud was moving.
Shelters have been set up to house displaced people, and authorities have distributed masks to nearby residents to protect them from air pollution from the ash.
Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke rising from Mount Semeru and at least one village covered in ash and bathed in a dark mist.
After the eruption, the internet was cut and the mobile telephone network was faulty, according to an AFP journalist.
A region with high seismicity
For its part, the Japanese Meteorological Agency has warned of a possible tsunami, caused by the eruption of the Indonesian volcano, in the islands of Miyako and Yaeyama, in the extreme south of the Japanese archipelago, according to the Kyodo agency.
An hour later, however, no damage had been reported.
Mount Semeru's last eruption
,
in December 2021, killed at least 51 people.
Mudslides and ash engulfed entire villages and nearly 10,000 people had to flee their homes.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes strong volcanic and seismic activity.
Yesterday, Saturday, a powerful earthquake hit the island of Java, injuring one person.
In the same region, another earthquake killed more than 330 people two weeks earlier.
Mohon Doanya semua untuk Lumajang, Erupsi Semeru sedang berlangsung.
Di rumahku, seperti mendung mau hujan.
pic.twitter.com/UBaHlDLkTT
— NineInspire (@AnggraNing) December 4, 2022
(
With
AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Indonesia
Natural disasters
Geology