The Semeru volcano on Indonesia’s Java island has erupted, sending thick columns of ash far into the sky and causing alarm among locals.
There were no initial indications of anyone being injured as a result of Saturday’s eruption.
Residents ran as rising smoke and ash engulfed some nearby villages in Lumajang district, East Java province, according to videos posted by the country’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB).
According to Lumajang district head Thoriqul Haq, the sudden eruption was accompanied by a thunderstorm and rain, which pushed lava and smouldering debris and formed thick mud, which destroyed at least one bridge connecting two main villages of Pronojiwo and Candipuro, as well as hampered the evacuation.
“Thick columns of ash have turned several villages to darkness,” Haq said, adding that several hundred people were moved to temporary shelters or left for other safe areas.
People running in terror under a massive ash cloud, their faces soaked from rain mixed with volcanic dust, were seen on television.
The Semeru volcano, which stands at 3,676 metres (12,060-feet) and is the highest point on the country’s most densely inhabited island, last erupted in January, with no fatalities.
Because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped sequence of fault lines, Indonesia, an island of more than 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. There are approximately 128 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
