Over 11,000 individuals have received evacuation orders, and the eruption of a volcano in northern Indonesia has caused significant disruptions to air travel in the area.
Indonesia issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday following several eruptions of the Ruang mountain volcano, which propelled ash and lava thousands of feet into the atmosphere. The volcano, located on the northern side of Sulawesi island, experienced a series of five significant eruptions within the last 24 hours, as reported by Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation. Consequently, authorities raised the volcano alert to its maximum level, prompting the evacuation of approximately 800 residents from the affected area.
The airport in the provincial capital of Manado has been closed by transport authorities as a precautionary measure against the ash showers resulting from the eruption. In response to safety concerns raised by aviation authorities, budget airline Air Asia has cancelled flights to nine airports in East Malaysia and Brunei. To ensure the well-being of the residents, officials have established a 6-kilometre (4-mile) exclusion zone around the volcano and are currently evacuating additional individuals, including those from the nearby island of Tagulandang.
The concern lies in the potential collapse of a section of the volcano into the sea, which could trigger a tsunami similar to the devastating eruption that occurred in 1871. The residents of Tagulandang Island, situated to the northeast of the volcano, are once again facing a significant risk and have been instructed to evacuate. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency of Indonesia has announced that these residents will be relocated to Manado, the closest city on Sulawesi Island. This relocation process will involve a 6 hours boat journey.
Indonesia, located on the ‘Ring of Fire’, a horseshoe-shaped chain of tectonic fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean, is home to 120 active volcanoes. Last year, the eruption of Indonesia’s Anak Krakatoa volcano caused a tsunami along the shores of Sumatra and Java when sections of the volcano collapsed into the sea.
