MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Mount Ruang volcano erupted on Tuesday for the second time in two weeks, sending ash almost 2 kilometers into the air, closing an airport and scattering debris over neighboring villages.
The alert level of the volcano on the island of Sulawesi was again raised to the highest level by the Indonesian geological service, after sensors detected increasing volcanic activity. The agency urged residents and climbers to stay at least 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the volcano’s crater.
The 725-meter (2,378-foot) volcano in North Sulawesi province is about 95 kilometers (59 miles) northeast of Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, the provincial capital.
The airport was closed on Tuesday morning due to reduced visibility and the dangers the ash posed to aircraft engines, said Ambar Suryoko, head of the regional airport authority.
Ash, gravel and rocks fell from the sky in towns and cities across the region, including Manado, a city of more than 430,000 where drivers had to turn on their headlights during the day.
“It was dark and rocks were raining at the eruption site,” said Yulius Ramopolii, head of the Mount Ruang monitoring station. “The vibrations were intense and knocked out the power, and the volcanic earthquakes shook the glass windows and everything around us.”
He said the eruption blocked out the sun and peppered several villages with debris. No casualties were reported, Ramopolii said.
More than 11,000 people were evacuated after the April 17 eruption, when Authorities warned that a major eruption it could collapse part of the volcano into the sea and cause a tsunami that could endanger neighboring villages.
Fewer than 3,000 remained in temporary shelters after the government lowered the alert level to the second highest of four levels and reopened the airport after four days.
Indonesia’s geological agency on Tuesday warned people on Tagulandang island, especially those living near the coast, about the potential for hot volcanic clouds and a tsunami due to eruptions of material entering the sea or the collapse of the volcanic dome. at sea.
Ruang is among around 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – a series of geological fault lines that stretches from the western coast of the Americas to Japan and Southeast Asia.
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Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta contributed to this report.
