Mount Ruang volcano erupts in Eastern Indonesia, prompts evacuations, airport closure

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Indonesia's remote Mount Ruang volcano erupted multiple times on Tuesday, leading to evacuations, the closure of a nearby international airport, and the elevation of the alert level to its highest, according to the country's volcanology agency.

Authorities had previously warned that the threat from the volcano persisted following more than half a dozen eruptions this month, which necessitated the evacuation of over 6,000 people.

Located in Indonesia's outermost region of North Sulawesi province, Mount Ruang erupted at approximately 01:15 am local time and twice more on Tuesday morning, sending a towering column of ash more than five kilometers into the sky.

The agency reinstated a six-kilometer exclusion zone and cautioned locals about the potential hazards, including ejections of incandescent rocks, hot clouds, and tsunamis resulting from eruption materials entering the sea.

Images released by the agency depicted a molten red column erupting into the sky, a large ash cloud billowing from the crater, and burning embers near local residences.

Over 800 people reside on Mount Ruang, all of whom were evacuated this month. While some residents returned home after the emergency response status ended on Monday, it remains unclear how many individuals have returned or been forced to evacuate again.

The latest eruption prompted authorities to once again close Sam Ratulangi International Airport in the provincial capital of Manado, more than 100 kilometers away, due to volcanic ash, according to a notice from state-run air traffic control provider AirNav Indonesia.

Indonesia, situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity, underscoring the ongoing challenges posed by natural disasters in the region.