Indonesia\u2019s Ruang volcano erupted on Tuesday, spewing lava as lightning flashes lit up its crater, prompting authorities to raise the alert status and evacuate more than 12,000 people living on a nearby island.
\nThe Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) had warned the residents of Tagulandang island that a tsunami could be triggered by volcanic material collapsing into the ocean.
\nThe warning, issued on Tuesday morning, remained in placed as of the afternoon.
\nThe agency raised the alert status of Ruang to the highest level following the early morning eruption, urging residents not to go near the volcano.
\nIndonesia\u2019s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said that all 843 residents living in Ruang island, where the volcano is located, have been moved to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province. Residents of Tagulandang island are being relocated to Siau island to the north.
\nThe eruption follows a series of eruptions earlier this month that forced hundreds to evacuate, and the airport in the provincial capital of Manado to close. That eruption also caused damage to some homes. At the time, the volcanology also issued a warning about the potential for a tsunami.
\nFootage shared by Indonesia\u2019s disaster agency showed strikes of lightning flashing above Ruang\u2019s crater, as fiery red clouds of lava and rocks were projected into the air and rained down around the island.
\nThe volcanology agency said the eruption column reached 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) high, and urged any remaining residents within a 7-km, previously 6-km, radius to immediately evacuate, warning of possible further \u201cexplosive eruptions\u201d.
\nRuang island is about 100 km from Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province in the north-central region of the sprawling Indonesian archipelago.
\nThe eruption corresponded with a spike in seismic activity and deep volcanic earthquakes, the disaster agency said.
\nAuthorities closed Manado\u2019s Sam Ratulangi airport again on Tuesday, citing the possible spread of volcanic ash, the airport operator said in an Instagram post. The airport will remain closed until noon on Wednesday, the transport ministry said.
\nAuthorities downgraded the status level to level 3 last week before bumping it up again to level 4 on Tuesday.
\nIndonesia straddles the so-called \u201cPacific Ring of Fire,\u201d an area of high seismic activity where multiple tectonic plates meet.
\n(Reuters)volcanic eruption. volcano eruption, evacuation, seismic activity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indonesia’s Ruang volcano erupted on Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of over 12,000 people on a nearby island. The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation warned of a potential tsunami from volcanic material collapsing into the ocean. The eruption reached a height of 5 kilometers and caused authorities to raise the alert status to the highest level. Residents living on Ruang island were relocated to Manado, while those on Tagulandang island were moved to Siau island. The eruption led to the closure of the airport in Manado due to volcanic ash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,3258,1414,4073,1666,2464,7040,445,5192,118,396,6843,7353,8455,3269,7495,8239,364,4779,447,775,5129,18],"class_list":["post-10212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-air","tag-airport","tag-closure","tag-clouds","tag-damage","tag-earthquakes","tag-eruption","tag-evacuation","tag-fire","tag-indonesia","tag-instagram","tag-rocks","tag-seismic-activity","tag-strikes","tag-tectonic-plates","tag-transport","tag-transport-ministry","tag-tsunami","tag-volcano","tag-volcano-eruption","tag-warning","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n