A volcano on the remote Indonesian island of Halmahera has spectacularly erupted, spewing a grey ash cloud into the sky, and people from seven nearby villages have been evacuated, authorities said on Sunday.
\nMt. Ibu erupted on Saturday evening, sending ash 4 km (2.5 miles) high, as streaks of purple lightning flashed around its crater, according to information and images shared by Indonesia\u2019s volcanology agency.
\nA joint team comprised of police, military and search and rescue officials was dispatched to the area to evacuate residents from surrounding villages, Abdul Muhari, from the disaster mitigation agency, said in a statement.
\nPhotos shared by the disaster agency showed authorities assisting the elderly, while other residents were moved in pick-up trucks and accommodated in emergency tents for the night.
\nThe agency did not provide any information about how many people had been moved, but authorities have recommended that a seven-km (4.35-mile) radius be cleared.
\nIndonesia\u2019s volcanology agency raised the alert level of the volcano to the highest level on Thursday, after Ibu erupted multiple times earlier this month.
\nIbu\u2019s activities follow a series of eruptions of different volcanoes in Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific \u201cRing of Fire\u201d and has 127 active volcanoes.
\nFlash floods and cold lava flow from Mount Marapi, one of the most active in West Sumatra province, covered several nearby districts following torrential rain on May 11, killing more than 60 people.
\nIn recent weeks, North Sulawesi\u2019s Ruang volcano has also erupted, spewing incandescent lava. The eruption prompted authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people on a nearby island.
\n(Reuters)volcano eruption. volcano eruption, ash cloud, evacuation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A volcano on the remote Indonesian island of Halmahera, Mt. Ibu, erupted on Saturday evening, sending a 4 km high ash cloud into the sky. Authorities evacuated people from seven nearby villages. The volcano’s alert level was raised to the highest level earlier in the week after multiple eruptions. Indonesia, located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” has 127 active volcanoes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,10505,8575,1241,5338,445,5192,118,8307,5404,8903,396,9833,3504,456,184,623,389,6238,1705,1827,965,3364,447,775,18],"class_list":["post-12359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-ash-cloud","tag-authorities","tag-cold","tag-elderly","tag-eruption","tag-evacuation","tag-fire","tag-flash-floods","tag-floods","tag-follow","tag-indonesia","tag-killing","tag-military","tag-photos","tag-police","tag-rain","tag-rescue","tag-search","tag-search-and-rescue","tag-statement","tag-trucks","tag-villages","tag-volcano","tag-volcano-eruption","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n