A woman and child look on at volcanic ash rising into the air during the eruption of Mount Ibu, as seen from Duono Village in West Halmahera, North Maluku province, on January 15, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted at least a thousand times this month, according to an official report on Sunday, as efforts are under way to evacuate thousands of villagers.

Mount Ibu, on the remote island of Halmahera, sent a column of smoke up to 4 km into the sky in an eruption on January 15.

Indonesian officials called for the evacuation of 3,000 people living in six nearby villages.

It was one of 1,079 eruptions by the volcano recorded since January 1 by Indonesia’s Geological Agency, sending columns of ash reaching between 0.3 km and 4 km above its peak, according to the agency’s data.

The latest big eruption occurred on Sunday at 1:15 a.m. local time. “The ash was grey, with moderate to thick intensity, drifting southwest. A loud rumbling sound was heard all the way to Mount Ibu Observation Post,” the agency said.

It added that the volcano had erupted 17 times on Sunday alone.

The local authorities had only managed to evacuate 517 residents as of Sunday, pledging to persuade those who remained to stay in safe shelters. Many have refused to evacuate, arguing that they were used to the situation and were in the harvest season.

“There might be economic considerations, as many residents are in the middle of harvesting crops. However, we will continue to educate the community and encourage them to evacuate,” said Adietya Yuni Nurtono, Ternate district military commander in charge of a safe shelter.

Damaged school buildings which were affected by the Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano eruption are seen at Flores Timur, Indonesia, November 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Indonesian government aims to evacuate at least 16,000 residents from villages around the active Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano that erupted and killed nine people and damaged thousands of houses, an official said on Tuesday (November 5, 2024).

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Sunday (November 3, 2024) night, followed by a smaller eruption on Monday (November 4, 2024) night, and remains on Indonesia’s highest volcanic alert status.

Evacuations were being hampered by thick volcanic ash on some roads, an official said.

As of Tuesday (November 5, 2024) morning, about 2,472 of the 16,086 residents from eight villages had been evacuated, Heronimus Lamawuran, spokesperson of East Flores regional government told Reuters.

“We plan to temporarily evacuate the residents until it’s safe for them to return to their villages,” he said.

The residents were taken to three school buildings and temporary shelters at other villages around 20 km (12 miles) from the crater, Heronimus added.

“We deployed more trucks along with military and police personnel to help evacuations on Tuesday,” he said.

Authorities have revised the death toll down to nine from 10, with 63 injured and about 2,384 houses and at least 25 schools were damaged.

The local government has declared a state of emergency for the next 58 days, meaning the central government could help provide aid to the residents. Four small airports in Flores Island have been closed due to the eruption.

Indonesia straddles the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” an area of high seismic activity where multiple tectonic plates meet.

Mount Ruang volcano erupts in Sitaro, North Sulawesi, on April 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A remote volcano in Indonesia’s outermost region erupted again on April 19, local authorities and an AFP journalist said, after the crater threw up columns of smoke and lava multiple times this week and forced thousands to evacuate.

“The volcano erupts again,” said the AFP journalist on the island of Tagulandang which neighbours Mount Ruang.

The country’s volcanology agency later confirmed the eruption sent a plume of smoke 400 metres (1,312 feet) above the peak.

“There was an eruption of Mt Ruang, North Sulawesi” at 1706 local time, 0906 GMT, it said.

“The ash column was observed to be grey in colour… and leaning towards the south.”

While officials said Ruang had started to calm Friday, authorities maintained the highest alert level on a four-tiered system, which indicates high volcanic activity.

They also told residents to remain more than six kilometres (four miles) from the crater.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

This handout photograph taken and released by the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation on April 17, 2024, shows Mount Ruang spewing hot lava and smoke as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Indonesia shut a provincial airport and evacuated hundreds of people from the vicinity of the Ruang volcano after it belched explosive plumes of lava, rocks and ash for days, officials said on April 18, declaring the highest alert on the situation.

Wednesday’s dramatic eruption of the volcano on a remote island in the Province of North Sulawesi threw a fiery-red column of lava, incandescent rock and ash as much as 3 km (two miles) into the sky.

Purple flashes of lightning rent the sky above the erupting volcano, videos on social media showed.

“We’re running, guys,” said one witness who filmed the eruption while scrambling to evacuate. “We are escaping because the ash is coming close.”

More than 800 people were evacuated from the area, with authorities widening the evacuation zone further after the volcanology agency raised the alert status.

“The potential for further eruption is still high, so we need to remain alert,” agency official Heruningtyas Desi Purnamasari told reporters on April 18, blaming a rapid escalation in volcanic activity.

The agency had also received reports that falling rocks and ash damaged homes and forced a nearby hospital to evacuate, the official said.

Transport authorities shut the airport in the provincial capital of Manado to protect against the showers of ash from the eruption.

Budget airline Air Asia cancelled flights with nine airports in East Malaysia and Brunei after aviation authorities warned of a safety threat.

Officials have cordoned off an area of six kilometres (4 miles) around the volcano and are evacuating more residents, some from the neighbouring island of Tagulandang, said Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of the disaster mitigation agency.

About 1,500 of those in high-risk areas needed to be immediately evacuated, he added, while almost 12,000 more stand to be affected.

Officials have also flagged the risk of a tsunami if parts of the mountain collapse into the ocean below. About 400 people were killed in a tsunami unleashed by a previous eruption of the volcano in 1871.