Indonesia’s Mount Marapi spewed columns of ash today as authorities raised the volcano’s alert status to the highest level, a month after an eruption that left 23 dead.
Indonesian authorities on Tuesday raised the alert status of Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province to the second highest level and established an exclusion zone 4.5 kilometers from the crater, with the area still off-limits.
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters.
It comes after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in Indonesia erupted on Wednesday, spewing clouds of ash 2,000 meters above its summit.
That eruption followed weeks of increased volcanic activity on the mountain, located on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, and prompted the local government to issue an evacuation order for local residents.
Mount Marapi spews columns of volcanic ash during an eruption, seen from Tanah Datar District, West Sumatra, Indonesia on January 13, 2024
Mount Marapi spews columns of volcanic ash during an eruption, seen from Tanah Datar District, West Sumatra, Indonesia on January 13, 2024.
“Communities are urged to immediately evacuate to safe points to avoid hot ash (from the volcano),” local official Benediktus Bolibapa Herin said on Wednesday.
Local authorities have set up two temporary shelters, which currently house about 5,000 people, Herin said.
On December 7, the search ended for victims among climbers caught days earlier by the eruption of the Mount Marapi volcano.
West Sumatra police chief Suharyono said the discovery of the body of a female university student had brought the confirmed death toll to 23.
About 75 climbers began scaling the nearly 10,000-foot mountain and were on the volcano when it erupted the next day.
About 52 climbers were rescued after the initial eruption, and a dozen were taken to hospitals with serious to minor injuries.
Smaller eruptions since then have spewed more ash into the air.
On December 13, Mount Marapi spewed clouds of ash half a kilometer into the sky, the country’s volcanology bureau said.
The volcano erupted around 6 a.m. local time (11 p.m. GMT) and again at noon, said Hendra Gunawan, the head of Indonesia’s volcanology bureau.
The eruption, he added, was relatively small given the recent activity, but the warning for the volcano was at the second-highest level.
On December 22, volcanic ash from Mount Marapi shut down airports and covered nearby communities on the island of Sumatra.
Mount Marapi volcano spews volcanic material during an eruption, seen from Nagari Bukik Batabuah in Agam, West Sumatra province, Indonesia, January 13, 2024
Mount Marapi volcano spews volcanic material during an eruption, seen from Nagari Bukik Batabuah in Agam, West Sumatra province, Indonesia, January 13, 2024
Mount Marapi spews columns of volcanic ash during an eruption, seen from Tanah Datar District, West Sumatra, Indonesia on January 13, 2024
Mount Marapi spews columns of volcanic ash during an eruption, seen from Tanah Datar District, West Sumatra, Indonesia on January 13, 2024
Mount Marapi spews columns of volcanic ash during an eruption, seen from Tanah Datar District, West Sumatra, Indonesia on January 13, 2024
Mount Marapi spews columns of volcanic ash during an eruption, seen from Tanah Datar District, West Sumatra, Indonesia on January 13, 2024
The volcano began spewing ash, reducing visibility hundreds of kilometers away, said Indra Saputra of the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Management.
Marapi is known for its sudden eruptions that are difficult to predict because they are not caused by deep movement of magma, which causes tremors recorded on seismic monitors.
The volcano has been at Indonesia’s third-highest alert level since 2011, indicating above-normal volcanic activity, meaning climbers and villagers should stay more than 3 kilometers from the summit, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Management said.
Although hikers are not supposed to enter the danger zone, local officials have acknowledged that many people are likely going further than allowed.
Marapi is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The country is prone to seismic unrest due to its location on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that encircle the Pacific Basin.