JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami alert Wednesday after eruptions on Mount Ruang sent ash thousands of meters high. Officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the area.
The volcano on the north side of Sulawesi island has had at least five major eruptions in the past 24 hours, the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Management said. Authorities have raised their volcano alert to the highest level.
At least 800 residents left the area earlier Wednesday.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million inhabitants, has 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it lies along the ‘Ring of Fire’, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
Authorities urged tourists and others to stay at least 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the 725-meter-high Ruang volcano.
Officials worry that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and trigger a tsunami, similar to an 1871 eruption.
Tagulandang Island, to the northeast of the volcano, is again in danger, and residents are among those told to evacuate.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency said residents will be moved to Manado, the nearest city, on Sulawesi island, a six-hour journey by boat.
In 2018, the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Anak Krakatau caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java after parts of the mountain fell into the ocean, killing 430 people.
