Indonesian authorities have begun evacuating 3,000 residents near the Mount Ibu volcano on the country’s eastern island of Halmahera, the national disaster agency informed on Thursday.
The volcano erupted earlier this week and sent a cloud of thick grey ash as high as four-km (2.5-mile) into the sky.
Mount Ibu first erupted on Tuesday afternoon, spewing three-km (1.86-mile) high volcanic ash. It erupted again at 07:11 a.m. on Wednesday (2211 GMT Tuesday) for around two minutes, the country’s volcanology agency said in a statement. Clouds of thick grey ash billowed into the sky leaning towards the west, said Muhammad Wahid, the agency’s head.
“Residents and tourists should not have any activities within at least 5 km (3 miles) from the crater,” he said.
Thousands Living Around Ibu
The evacuations started late on Wednesday for about 3,000 residents around the area who were being prioritised due to their proximity to the volcano, Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson for the country’s disaster mitigation agency, told Reuters.
He had previously said 13,000 people were living near the volcano.
“Judging from the situation from the ground, it is still pretty stable,” he said.
Prone To Eruptions
Ibu had a series of eruptions last year. In May, it had forced the evacuation of people living in seven nearby villages.
Ibu’s activities follow a series of eruptions of different volcanoes in Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and has 127 active volcanoes.
In November last year, the first eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in East Nusa Tenggara province killed at least nine people, damaged more than 2,000 houses and forced the evacuation of 13,000 residents.
The eruptions had also forced cancellation of more than 160 flights to and from Bali between November 4 and November 13.
The Indonesian government also said it plans to permanently relocate thousands of residents after the volcanic eruptions.
(With inputs from Reuters)
