Volcano Semeru Outburst in Indonesia Triggers Evacuations

Indonesia's Mount Semeru, the tallest summit on Java island, has erupted, blanketing several villages with falling ash, leading to evacuations and leading authorities to raise the warning to the highest level.

The mountain in the province of East Java released searing clouds of fiery ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7km down its slopes several times from noon to dusk, while a thick column of hot clouds rose 2km into the sky, as stated by Indonesia’s Geology Agency.

The outbursts that unfolded throughout the day compelled authorities to increase the volcano’s alert level on two occasions, from the level three to the top level, the agency said. No deaths or injuries have been announced.

Over three hundred residents in the three communities most at risk in the district of Lumajang region were evacuated to official safe havens, as mentioned by a representative for the national emergency management body.

He stated that increased activity of the mountain on the afternoon of Wednesday prompted officials to widen the danger zone to 8km from the crater. People were urged to stay clear from an zone along the Kobokan River, which is the route of the lava flow, as scorching gases moved down the volcano's sides.

Footage on social media showed a thick plume of volcanic dust moving through a forested valley to a waterway beneath a overpass. Residents, some with faces smeared with ash and rain, fled to temporary shelters or departed for other safe areas.

Regional news outlets indicated that emergency teams were facing challenges to save about 178 individuals trapped on the 3,676-metre peak at the Ranu Kumbolo observation station. The party comprised 137 climbers, 15 carriers, seven guides and six tourism officials, according to an official with the protected area.

“They are currently safe at the Ranu Kumbolo station,” a spokesperson said in a recorded message. He said the post was located 4.5km from the crater on the northern slope of the mountain, which is not in the path of the hot cloud flow that was seen moving to the south-southeast. Bad weather and precipitation required the group to remain overnight there, he added.

The volcano, also called Great Mountain, has erupted numerous times in the past 200 years. Still, as is the case with numerous of the 129 active volcanoes in the archipelago, thousands of people still to live on its productive highlands.

The mountain's last major eruption was in late 2021, when 51 individuals were killed and several hundred others were burned and settlements were buried in thick mud. The eruption led to the evacuation of more than 10,000 residents from their homes.

Indonesia, an archipelago of over 280 million inhabitants, sits along the Pacific “ring of fire”, a horseshoe-shaped series of tectonic boundaries, and is prone to seismic events and volcanism.