Lava flows during the eruption of Mount Semeru in East Java on 16 January.
Photographer: Agus Harianto / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Agus Harianto / AFP / Getty Images
The Mount Semeru volcano, on Indonesia’s main Java island, spewed hot ashes up to 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) on Saturday, prompting authorities to warn people to keep their distance.
People should not carry out any activities within a 1 kilometer radius of the crater, the country’s national disaster mitigation management said on Saturday. The volcano’s alert level was under “surveillance”, two levels below the highest “warning” rating.
Indonesia’s 18,000 islands are located along the Pacific Ocean’s “ring of fire” with active volcanoes and tectonic faults, making it prone to natural disasters such as eruptions and earthquakes.
Indonesian authorities have had to deal with several natural and man-made disasters this month.
The magnitude 6.2 The earthquake shook West Sulawesi on Friday, killing dozens. Hundreds of people were injured and some 15,000 people were evacuated.
At least five people in Manado, North Sulawesi, died from floods and landslides due to bad weather on Saturday. Last week, at least 11 people, including rescue workers, died and 18 were injured in western Java after torrential rains caused landslides.
On January 9, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, carrying 62 people, dived into the Java Sea shortly after Jakarta took off. No survivors were found.