A colossal cloud of ash. The Semeru volcano in Indonesia, located in the east of the island of Java, of which it is the highest point at 3 676 meters, erupted on Sunday, December 4, a year to the day after another eruption that killed dozens. It caused the inhabitants of the villages situated on its flank to flee. Villagers fled by the dozens as they approached the 1.5 km high ash cloud, taking what they could. According to the emergency services, almost 2 000 of them were evacuated.
Some left in threes on motorbikes as local authorities sounded the alarm with bamboo drums and the sky darkened like the middle of the night, monsoon rain mingling with ash, according to a reporter from the AFP on site. Emergency services reported“burning avalanches”caused by blocks of lava that broke off from the summit during the eruption and surged towards the base of the volcano.
Alert level raised from 3 to 4
No casualties were immediately reported, but authorities asked residents to stay at least five miles from the crater. They also asked people to avoid a 13 km long area along a river southeast of Mount Semeru, towards which the volcanic ash cloud was moving.
The Center for Volcanology and Prevention of Geological Disasters (PVMBG) has raised the alert level around Mount Semeru from level three to the highest level four, its spokesperson Hendra Gunawan told Kompas TV. “This means that danger threatens populated areas and that the activity of the volcano has intensified”, he explained. According to the emergency services, a total of 1 979 people from six villages have been rehoused in 11 shelters opened for the occasion. Authorities also distributed masks to residents to protect them from air pollution from the ash.
