Monday, more people were evacuated from adjacent communities following the eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Semeru, with officials warning of the threat posed by cooling lava despite the volcano’s decreased activity.
On Sunday morning, the highest mountain on the country’s main island of Java erupted, prompting more than 2,400 residents to flee their homes and seek refuge in eleven evacuation camps.
Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, told local television that the military, police, local disaster, and village officials are evacuating people from Curah Kobokan, where a hot ash cloud and cool lava could move.
The total number of evacuees to date is 2,489
Officials have declared a state of emergency for the next two weeks, and authorities are distributing free masks to protect against ash in the air and establishing public kitchens for evacuees.
According to an AFP journalist, on Monday morning, dozens of evacuees in the Lumajang district, where Semeru is located, returned to their ash-covered homes to recover valuables before returning to shelters.
As the volcano blasted ash in the background, some people herded animals while others hauled items like TVs and refrigerators.
Muhari stated that Monday morning’s visual observations of Semeru suggested less strong volcanic activity, but he cautioned of the possible threat posed by lava flows that had cooled following heavy rain.
Concerns include commercial operations such as sand mining. “We want to ensure that the path along which the hot ash cloud and cold lava may travel is entirely devoid of activity,” he said.
On Sunday, the government’s warning status about the risk posed by the volcano was elevated to its maximum level. It had been at its second-highest level since a massive eruption in December of last year.
The eruption last year resulted in the deaths of 51 individuals, the destruction of more than 5,000 dwellings, and the displacement of approximately 10,000 people.
The majority of those killed in the accident were sand miners operating on the slopes of the volcano.
Indonesia is located on the “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific Ocean, where the collision of continental plates creates significant volcanic and seismic activity. Nearly 130 active volcanoes are found in the Southeast Asian archipelago nation.
