Indonesia's Dramatic Volcano Eruption Caught on Video
Netizens have shared footage of Mount Ruang's mighty eruption on Tuesday, an event that prompted Indonesia to issue its highest-level alert.
Some 12,000 locals living within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius, including on the island of Ruang and nearby Tagulandang Island, have been evacuated amid concerns over ash dangerous ash surges, pyroclastic flows, landslides and the risk of a tsunami if part of the mountain collapses into the sea.
The 2,400-foot volcano, which lies in North Sulawesi province's Sangihe Island, was particularly active during the first half of April, leading up to a powerful eruption on April 16. Tuesday's eruption ended the relative lull of the past two weeks.
Video uploaded to social media shows the massive column of ash, which rose more than16,000 feet into the air, according to Indonesia's vulcanology agency.
Other footage captured the eruption's explosive intensity, with lava raining down as lightning crackles around it, caused by the static electricity generated by colliding ash particles.
Tuesday's eruption was larger than the previous one and possibly the most powerful since 1871, said Bejo Prabowo, who heads the Indonesian organization Infomitigation, which focuses on disaster mitigation through satellite remote sensing.
"Even solid materials in the form of stones, gravel, and sand can reach [Tagulandang] island on the other side of Ruang Island. This shocked us all," he added.
Prabowo told Newsweek that little data had been gathered from a 2001 eruption due to a lack of resources needed to properly monitor it.
Ash and volcanic rock spewed out by Mount Ruang has damaged crops as well as hundreds of houses and other buildings, per Indonesia's disaster management agency.
The ash also created poor flight conditions, leading Sam Ratulangi Airport, in the North Sulawesi capital of Manado, to suspend flights for the day.
No casualties have been reported.
Newsweek reached out to Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation with written request for comment.
Mount Ruang is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic country is situated within the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped area in the Pacific Ocean basin that experiences frequent earthquakes and eruptions due to tectonic plate movement.
Stratovolcanoes like Mount Ruang are steep-sided, symmetrical cones formed by thick, sticky lava that does not flow easily. This viscous lava creates the conditions for high gas pressure that can cause explosive eruptions like Washington state's Mount St. Helens in 1980.
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