Indonesia’s Mount Ibu volcano eruption shoots grey ash clouds into sky

Indonesian authorities say they evacuated seven nearby villages on Sunday

Indonesia’s Mount Ibu volcano erupted on Saturday, spewing thick grey ash clouds into the sky and leading to evacuations in seven nearby villages.

Mount Ibu, a volcano in North Maluku province, erupted on Saturday evening, shooting ash 4km up into the sky as streaks of purple lightning flashed around its crater, data and images from Indonesia’s volcanology agency showed.

The 1,325m-tall volcano is on the northwest coast of the remote island of Halmahera. Official figures say that more than 700,000 people lived in Halmahera as of 2022.

A joint team of police, military, and search and rescue officials was sent immediately to surrounding villages to begin the evacuation process, Abdul Muhari from the disaster mitigation agency said in a statement.

The agency did not provide any information about how many people had been moved, but authorities recommended that a seven-km radius be cleared.

After an eruption on Friday, the centre raised the alert level for the volcano from 2 to 3, the second-highest, which widens the radius of the area which should be vacated.

A handout photo made available by Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation shows thick grey ash and dark clouds spewed from Mount Ibu in North Maluku province, Indonesia, 15 May 2024 (EPA)

Officials had already advised residents and tourists not to conduct any activities within five kilometres of Mount Ibu’s crater. More than 13,000 people live within a 5km radius of the northern side of the crater, Hendra Gunawan, chief of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, said.

These eruptions follow a similar pattern in Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and has 127 active volcanoes.

At least 60 people died in flash floods triggered by heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down Mount Marapi on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, on 11 May.

Recently, North Sulawesi’s Ruang volcano also erupted, prompting authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people on a nearby island.