The eruption around 800 km southeast of Jakarta, prompted authorities to raise alert status to the highest level.
\n JAKARTA, INDONESIA:
\nIndonesia\u2019s Mount Semeru erupted on Sunday spewing hot ash clouds a mile into the sky and sending rivers of lava down its side, sparking the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people exactly one year after its last major eruption killed dozens.
\nThe eruption of the highest mountain on Indonesia\u2019s main island of Java, around 800 kilometres southeast of the capital Jakarta, prompted authorities to raise the alert status to the highest level.
\n\u201cHot avalanches\u201d caused by piles of lava at the tip of the 3,676-metre volcano slid down after the eruption, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement.
\nThe increased threat level \u201cmeans the danger has threatened the people\u2019s settlement and the volcano\u2019s activity has escalated\u201d, Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre (PVMBG) spokesperson Hendra Gunawan told broadcaster Kompas TV.
\nNo casualties or injuries were reported immediately after the eruption but Gunawan warned nearby residents not to travel within 8km of the crater after the threat level was raised to four.
\nThe BNPB said 1,979 people were taken to 11 shelters, with at least six villages affected by the eruption.
\nImages on local TV showed evacuees, mostly women, and children, taking shelter in a school.
\nVideos shared with AFP by local rescue group Irannala Rescue showed a huge black cloud rising from the volcano\u2019s crater, engulfing the sky and blocking the sun in nearby villages.
\nThe villages were being battered by monsoon rains by the afternoon and the rainfall was mixing with volcanic ash, according to Kompas.
\nResidents were also told to avoid a southeastern area 13km along a river in the direction where the ash was travelling.
\n\u201cA lot of people have started to go down,\u201d Thoriqul Haq, the local administration chief for Lumajang, where the volcano is located, told Kompas TV.
\nMost residents in the two most-threatened villages have evacuated themselves, said Patria Dwi Hastiadi, spokesperson of the Lumajang Disaster Mitigation Agency.
\nJapan\u2019s weather agency had earlier warned that a tsunami was possible in the southern islands of Miyako and Yaeyama in Okinawa prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported, but the country\u2019s meteorological agency said no significant tidal changes were observed.
\nAccording to an AFP journalist, the internet in the area around Semeru was cut and phone signals were patchy after the eruption.
\nThe local rescue agency distributed free masks to the public because of the threat of polluted air to vulnerable residents.
\nAs rescuer Gunawan, who has the same name as the PVMBG spokesperson, filmed clouds above him in East Java after the eruption, a video showed the sky quickly turning to black as a colossal plume of ash engulfed any light.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve promised you, we won\u2019t miss it again,\u201d he told residents in a local Javanese dialect, appearing to refer to last year\u2019s eruption before flicking a peace sign to the camera.
\nAnother rescuer filmed an ominously dark scene outdoors at midday, which could have been midnight.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s getting dark, bro,\u201d he said to the camera, as a seismograph whistled in the background.
\nMount Semeru last erupted precisely one year ago, killing at least 51 people and damaging more than 5,000 homes.
\nThe disaster left entire streets filled with mud and ash that swallowed houses and vehicles, with nearly 10,000 people seeking refuge.
\nA bridge that connects two districts in the area that was being rebuilt after last year\u2019s eruption was heavily damaged again on Sunday, according to a PVMBG media officer.
\nSemeru\u2019s alert status had remained at its second-highest level since its previous major eruption in December 2020, which also forced thousands to flee and left villages covered.
\nIndonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.
\nThe Southeast Asian archipelago nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes. A volcano in the strait between Java and Sumatra islands erupted in late 2018, causing an underwater landslide and tsunami that killed more than 400 people. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The eruption around 800 km southeast of Jakarta, prompted authorities to raise alert status to the highest level. JAKARTA, INDONESIA: Indonesia\u2019s Mount Semeru erupted on Sunday spewing hot ash clouds a mile into the sky and sending rivers of lava down its side, sparking the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people exactly one year after its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-299223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n