April 19, 2024
JAKARTA – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has ordered more than 11,000 residents living around Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi to evacuate their homes following an increase in its eruption intensity that has prompted the authorities to raise the volcano’s alert status to red.
Late Wednesday, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) raised the alert status into the awas (warning) level, the highest level of the country’s four-tier volcano alert system. In one of the largest eruptions recorded that day, occurring at around 9 p.m. local time, the volcano spewed hot ash that reached 3,000 meters in height.
The first eruption of the 725-meter-high Mt. Ruang was recorded on Tuesday, following weeks of heightened volcanic activity, including multiple earthquakes, since earlier this month.
As of Thursday morning, the volcano was still spewing volcanic ash that reached up to 800 m in height, with increased high volcanic activity and the potential for another eruption.
The highest alert level requires people, both residents and visitors, to avoid areas within 6 kilometers of the crater, which includes some parts of Tagulandang Island next to the volcano.
Mt. Ruang is located in the middle of the Sangihe Islands in Sitaro regency, North Sulawesi; around 110 km from the provincial capital of Manado.
“Residents of Tagulandang Island, especially those who live near the beach, must be cautious of the potential hurling of incandescent rocks, hot clouds and tsunamis caused by volcanic projectiles that land in the sea,” PVMBG head Hendra Gunawan said on late Wednesday.
Authorities have evacuated 828 residents from the Pumpente and Laingpatehi villages, which are located on the same island as the volcano.
Most villagers are staying with their relatives on neighboring Tagulandang Island, while around 45 of them are currently staying in temporary shelters at SMPN 1 Tagulandang state junior high school; around 9 km from the Mt. Ruang crater. Authorities have been disbursing supplies such as blankets, sleeping pads and face masks.
As of late Wednesday, the disaster agency had not received any reports of casualties or injuries related to the eruption.
At least 50 joint personnel from the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), police, military and other institutions have been deployed to help with the evacuation.
“Our plan today is to evacuate [residents] from along the coastline using rubber boats as people have been evacuating themselves without a [clear] direction since last night,” said Jandry Paendong, the head of the Manado Search and Rescue Operations Office, on Thursday.
This handout photo from Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) received on April 18, 2024, shows a member of Basarnas talking to residents in Sitaro, North Sulawesi, as the Mount Ruang volcano is seen in the background spewing smoke. Indonesian rescuers raced to evacuate thousands of people on April 18 after the volcano erupted five times, forcing authorities to close a nearby airport and issue a warning about falling debris that could cause a tsunami.
However, bad weather forced officials’ boats to stay docked between Thursday morning and noon. The weather improved in the afternoon, allowing rescuers to embark on their evacuation mission.
The disaster agency also said that most of the areas around 6 km from the crater had been cleared, but they were recounting the evacuees as people had fled their homes in panic.
Authorities also evacuated a prison on Tagulandang island, ferrying 17 inmates along with 11 officials and 19 residents by boat to Likupang port on the main island of Sulawesi, AFP reported. The prison warden requested evacuation because the penitentiary sits directly across from the volcano.
The Sitaro regency has issued a state-of-emergency for at least 14 days from Tuesday to April 29.
Mt. Ruang’s volcanic ash has spread as far as Manado, forcing authorities to temporarily close Sam Ratulangi International Airport in the city from Wednesday to Thursday. The airport hosts airlines that fly domestic and international flights to Singapore and cities in South Korea and China.
At least five flights departing and four arriving at Sam Ratulangi Airport were delayed, canceled or diverted, said Ambar Suryoko, head of the local airport authority.
“This incident is a force majeure,” he said on Thursday. “I hope passengers can understand if there are flight delays and cancelations.”
Budget airline AirAsia also canceled flights to and from nine airports in eastern Malaysia and Brunei until Friday morning because of the Ruang eruption, it wrote on social media platform X.
Mt. Ruang’s last major eruption was in 2002, and caused damage to nearby settlements and required the evacuation of residents. Meanwhile, an eruption in 1871 triggered a tsunami that killed 400 people living in the vicinity.