Recently, Indonesia’s Mount Ruang once again experienced a violent eruption, with volcanic ash columns reaching a height of 5,000 meters, forcing the closure of at least seven nearby airports. At the same time, authorities, fearing the possibility of a tsunami, have urgently evacuated over 10,000 residents in the surrounding areas.
According to media reports, this volcano located on a remote island in North Sulawesi province erupted three times on April 30, sending red-hot lava, molten rock, and volcanic ash columns soaring to 5,000 meters into the sky. Subsequently, Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) raised the alert level of Mount Ruang to the highest level.
The monitoring station for Mount Ruang volcano indicated that on May 1, ash and thick smoke were still emanating from the crater, with the organization urging local residents not to enter the area within a radius of 6 kilometers from the volcano.
AirNav Indonesia, the state-owned aviation service agency, issued a notice stating that the widespread volcanic ash had led to the closure of at least seven nearby airports. Among them is the Manado Sam Ratulangi Airport, also known as the Sam Ratulangi International Airport, located in the capital of North Sulawesi province.
Given that the volcanic eruption could potentially result in a large amount of volcanic debris falling into the sea and triggering a tsunami, authorities in Jakarta dispatched a military ship and a rescue vessel to assist more than 12,000 residents from Tagulandang Island to evacuate north to Siau Island.
Mount Ruang Island is approximately 100 kilometers away from Manado City. The volcano started erupting on the 16th of this month and began to ease on the 19th. Residents of Mount Ruang and Tagulandang Island had begun to return home to clear volcanic ash after the alert level was lowered, but are now being forced to evacuate once again.