A tsunami alert has been issued after a volcano erupted in Indonesia, sending ash thousands of feet into the air.
Ruang Mountain, an island in the north of the country, has had at least five large eruptions in the last 24 hours. No casualties have been reported.
Authorities have raised their volcano alert to its highest level and officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the surrounding area.
Those living on the island, about 800 people, have been evacuated. Tourists have also been warned to stay at least 6km from the 725m Ruang volcano.
There are worries that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and cause a tsunami as in a 1871 eruption there.
Dramatic footage of the eruptions Wednesday shows plumes of gray ash billowing into the sky and streams of glowing lava, accompanied by lightning strikes.
The chief of the country’s volcanology agency, Hendra Gunawan, said: “The force of Mount Ruang’s eruption is getting bigger and has emitted hot clouds of approximately 1.7 kilometres.”
He added that the eruptions were triggered by recent earthquakes in the area. Tagulandang island to the volcano’s northeast is again at risk, and its residents are among those being told to evacuate.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency said residents will be relocated to the nearest city Manado, on Sulawesi, a journey of six hours by boat.
In 2018, the eruption of Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java after parts of the mountain fell into the ocean, killing 430 people.
Indonesia has 120 active volcanoes across its many islands making it prone to volcanic activity.The country sits along the “Ring of Fire”, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
