Saturday, December 04, 2021

At Least One Dead as Volcano Erupts in Indonesia, Spewing Ash Cloud

Dozens more suffered burns as lava flowed from the eruption of Mount Semeru, on the island of Java.



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Volcano Erupts on Indonesian Island
At least one person was killed and dozens were injured by lava flow after Mount Semeru erupted on the island of Java. Officials said several areas reported falling into darkness because of fog from volcanic ash.

By Aina J. Khan and Muktita Suhartono
Dec. 4, 2021

Searing ash towered in the sky over the Indonesian island of Java on Saturday after the Semeru volcano erupted, killing at least one person and injuring dozens.

Indah Amperawati Masdar, the deputy head of East Java’s Lumajang District, near Mount Semeru, said in a news conference that at least 41 people had suffered burns from the lava flow that also nearly destroyed the village of Curahkobokan and caused a bridge to collapse, making evacuation difficult.

But Maj. Gen. Suharyanto, the head of the B.N.P.B., Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name, said at the news conference that evacuation points had been set up in three nearby villages and in two subdistricts.

In a statement, the agency said that several areas were reporting “darkness due to fog from volcanic ash.” But as of late Saturday, air travel remained unaffected, a state-owned air navigation company said.


Mount Semeru was spewing volcanic ash on Saturday.
Credit...Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Darwin, Australia, issued a red aviation warning on Saturday, saying that ash had “detached from the volcano,” and that it was moving southwest and west.

But the state-owned air navigation company, AirNav Indonesia, said in a statement that no airports or flight routes had been affected by the eruption. Nonetheless, it warned pilots of volcanic ash reaching heights of up to 40,000 feet.

Mount Semeru, which last erupted in January, is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes and is Java’s tallest mountain. It is among the country’s more than 120 active volcanoes; several hundred others are now considered extinct.

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Muktita Suhartono reports for The New York Times in Indonesia and Thailand. She joined The Times in 2018 and is based in Bangkok.


Indonesia’s volcano spews ash, gas; 1 dead, dozens hurt
By AGOES BASOEKI2

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Ash covers the street in the Lumajang District in Indonesia, on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021 after Mount Semeru’s eruption. Indonesia's highest volcano on Java island has spewed thick columns of ash, searing gas and lava down its slopes in a sudden eruption triggered by heavy rains. (AP Photo)

LUMAJANG, Indonesia (AP) — The highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java spewed thick columns of ash, searing gas and lava down its slopes in a sudden eruption triggered by heavy rains on Saturday. At least one villager died from burns and dozens were hospitalized.

Mount Semeru’s eruption in Lumajang district in East Java province left several villages blanketed with falling ash.

A thunderstorm and days of rain, which had eroded and finally collapsed the lava dome atop the 3,676-meter (12,060-foot) Semeru, triggered an eruption, said Eko Budi Lelono, who heads the geological survey center.

He said flows of searing gas and lava traveled up to 800 meters (2,624 feet) to a nearby river at least twice on Saturday. People were advised to stay 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the crater’s mouth, the agency said.

“Thick columns of ash have turned several villages to darkness,” said Lumajang district head Thoriqul Haq. Several hundred people were moved to temporary shelters or left for other safe areas, he said, adding that power blackout hampered the evacuation.

The debris and lava mixed with the rainfall formed thick mud that destroyed the main bridge connecting Lumajang and the neighboring district of Malang, as well as a smaller bridge, Haq said.

Despite an increase in activity since Wednesday, Semeru’s alert status has remained at the third highest of four levels since it began erupting last year, and Indonesia’s Volcanology Center for Geological Hazard Mitigation did not raise it this week, Lelono said.

One man died from severe burns, and 41 others were hospitalized with burn injuries, said Indah Masdar, the deputy district head. She said two villagers were reported missing and several sand miners were trapped in isolated areas along the village river.

Entire houses in Curah Kobokan village were damaged by volcanic debris, Masdar said.

Television reports showed people screaming and running under a huge ash cloud, their faces wet from rain mixed with volcanic dust. The last time Semeru erupted in January, there were no casualties.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.




Remains of a bridge in a slope, destroyed by the flowing lava, is shown in the Lumajang District in Indonesia, on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021 after Mount Semeru’s eruption. Indonesia's highest volcano on Java island has spewed thick columns of ash, searing gas and lava down its slopes in a sudden eruption triggered by heavy rains. (AP Photo)


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