Mount Semeru, Indonesia’s highest volcano on its most densely populated island, released searing gas clouds and rivers of lava in its latest eruption.
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Monsoon rains eroded and finally collapsed the lava dome atop 12,060-foot Mount Semeru, causing the eruption, according to National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
Several villages were blanketed with falling ash, blocking out the sun, but no casualties have been reported. Several hundred residents, their faces smeared with volcanic dust and rain, fled to temporary shelters or left for other safe areas. Thick columns of ash were blasted more than nearly 5,000 feet into the sky while searing gas and lava flowed down Semeru’s slopes toward a nearby river.
Increased activities of the volcano on Sunday afternoon prompted authorities to widen the danger zone to 5 miles from the crater, said Hendra Gunawan, who heads the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center. He said scientists raised the volcano’s alert level to the highest and people were advised to keep off the southeastern sector along the Besuk Kobokan River, which is in the path of the lava flow.
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