Indonesia's Ruang volcano erupts again, alert status at highest

JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Ruang volcano off the island of Sulawesi erupted on April 30, spewing ash and lava, after an eruption earlier in April led to hundreds of evacuations and an airport closure.

The country’s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised the alert level to the highest one following the morning eruption, urging residents not to get near the volcano, according to its website.

The authorities had downgraded the status level to three last week before bumping it up again to level four on April 30.

The island of Ruang in the province of North Sulawesi is home to more than 800 residents, most of whom have been evacuated following the eruption earlier in April. It was not immediately clear how many more were evacuated on April 30.

The country’s disaster mitigation agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Footage on social media on April 30, which Reuters could not immediately authenticate, showed lava flowing down the volcano, which is about 100km from the provincial capital Manado.

The transport authorities temporarily closed Manado’s airport after the eruption earlier in April, while falling rocks and ash damaged homes, and forced a nearby hospital to evacuate.

Indonesia straddles the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity where multiple tectonic plates meet.

Indonesian volcano eruption forces evacuations, airport closure