Lava flows during an eruption of Mount Semeru in East Java, January 16.
Photographer: Agus Harianto / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Agus Harianto / AFP / Getty Images
Mount Semeru volcano on Indonesia’s main Java island erupted hot ashes up to four kilometers (2.5 miles) on Saturday, prompting authorities to warn people to keep their distance.
The country’s national disaster management team should not carry out any activities within a radius of 1 kilometer from the crater on Saturday. The volcano warning level was at ‘clock’, two notches lower than the highest ‘warning’.
Indonesia’s 18,000 islands sit along the Pacific Ocean’s “ring of fire” zone of active volcanoes and tectonic faults, prone to natural disasters such as eruptions and earthquakes.
Indonesian authorities had to deal with several natural and man-made disasters this month.
A size of 6.2 earthquake shook West Sulawesi on Friday, killing dozens of people. Hundreds of people were injured and about 15,000 people were evacuated.
At least five people in Manado, North Sulawesi, died on Saturday due to flooding due to adverse weather. Last week, at least 11 people, including rescuers, were killed and 18 injured in West Java after torrential rains caused mudslides.
On January 9, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 with 62 people sank in the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. No survivors were found.