2024-04-19 23:14:28
The Indonesian airport in Manado (north), the closest to the Ruang volcano, which has erupted five times in recent days, was closed for 24 hours due to volcanic ash, the Ministry of Transport announced this Thursday.
Manado International Airport, located more than 100 kilometers from the Ruang volcano, will close until Thursday night (local time) “due to the spread of volcanic ash that could compromise the safety of flights”, he said in a statement. the director of the provincial airport authority’s office, Ambar Suryoko.
Meanwhile, Indonesian emergency services are continuing to evacuate the area following the multiple eruption of Ruang, which caused several injuries and displaced more than 1,600 people.
Level IV Alert
The country’s volcanology department on Wednesday night raised its volcano alert to level IV, the highest, after it erupted three times since Tuesday, sending clouds of ash up to three thousand meters high and causing small earthquakes.
The Indonesian Disaster Management Agency said 828 people were evacuated from the Sitari area, while 783 sought shelter in family homes on Tagulandang island, close to the island where Ruang is located.
According to the Zoom Earth portal, which tracks the evolution of meteorological phenomena, the volcano’s last eruption, on Wednesday, was captured by satellite images and created a large cloud that is affecting the adjacent islands.
Indonesia has more than 400 volcanoes, of which at least 129 are active and 65 have been classified as dangerous.
In December 2023, the sudden eruption of the Merapi volcano on the island of Sumatra killed 23 people.
Indonesia is located in the so-called “Ring of Fire” of the Pacific, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity that is shaken by around seven thousand earthquakes per year, most of them of low magnitude.
2024-04-19 23:14:28