Mount Ruang, a volcano in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, erupted several times on Tuesday, prompting authorities to issue the highest level of alert and evacuate thousands of people. The volcano sent a tower of ash more than five kilometers (3.1 miles) into the sky and a fiery column of lava.
The national disaster agency BNPB estimated that 11,000 to 12,000 people had to be relocated from near the crater, and a seven-kilometer exclusion zone was imposed. The evacuation order was issued due to the potential for a tsunami from debris sliding into the sea. A rescue ship and a warship were dispatched to help move thousands from neighboring Tagulandang island to Siau island because of the tsunami warning.
The eruption also prompted the closure of Sam Ratulangi international airport in Manado, more than 100 kilometers away, due to volcanic ash. Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”
The country’s volcanology agency had warned that the threat from the volcano was not over after it erupted more than half a dozen times this month, sparking the evacuation of more than 6,000 people. More than 800 people live on Ruang, all of whom were evacuated this month. Some had returned to their homes after the emergency response ended on Monday, but it was unclear how many residents had gone back and how many were forced to evacuate once more.
The tsunami fears were also informed by more recent events. The crater of Mount Anak Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra islands, also partly collapsed in 2018 when a major eruption sent huge chunks of the volcano sliding into the ocean, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 400 people and injured thousands.
