By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Thousands were told Thursday to leave their homes after an Indonesian mountain erupted, sending ash thousands of feet high (meters) and prompting authorities to issue a tsunami alert.
Officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the area near the Ruang mountain on the northern side of Sulawesi island.
Authorities feared parts of the mountain could fall into the ocean, causing a similar tragedy as in 2018 when Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano caused a tsunami, killing hundreds.
Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said Ruang was an active volcano with at least five significant eruptions in the past 24 hours.
Among the many ordered to leave the area were those on the remote island of Tagulandang, to the volcano’s northeast. They will be taken to the nearest city, which is six hours by boat, officials said.
Houses on the neighboring remote island of Tagulandang were riddled with holes from falling volcanic rocks, and residents were preparing to leave at least temporarily, witnesses said.
Many people were seen wandering around, including those trying to evacuate personal belongings from their houses.
FLEEING RESIDENTS
Rescuers said they were rushing to evacuate more than 11,000 residents from around Tagulandang, home to around 20,000 people.
Some residents were already trying to flee in a panic, according to officials. “Last night people evacuated on their own but without direction due to the volcano’s eruption and… small rocks that fell, so the people scattered to find evacuation routes,” local search and rescue agency official Jandry Paendong said in a statement Thursday.
He said 20 staff were helping evacuate residents along the coastline near the volcano on rubber boats.
Authorities also evacuated a prison on Tagulandang island, ferrying 17 inmates along with 11 officials and 19 residents by boat to Likupang seaport in northern Sulawesi island, according to authorities.
The prison chief reportedly requested the evacuation because the facility sits directly across from the volcano.
Tourists and residents were warned to remain outside a six-kilometer (3.7 miles) exclusion zone, and a nearby airport – Sam Ratulangi in Manado – has been closed, affecting nine flights so far.
More than 800 people were initially taken from Ruang to Tagulandang island after the first eruption on Tuesday evening before four more eruptions on Wednesday prompted evacuations from that island, authorities said.
MORE BOATS
Paendong called for more boats and equipment so his team could “carry out evacuation for people in the coast or near the coast” facing the volcano.
Authorities said they fear part of the mountain could collapse into the sea and cause a tsunami.
Christians in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, told Worthy News that volcano outbursts and earthquakes are just part of life in a country where believers in several areas have reported persecution for their faith.
“We know that our nation sits along the Ring Of Fire,” said Victoria, a house church organizer. “It’s something we learn to live with,” she said, referring to a series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
Her son recently survived an earthquake that shook his university building.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, has 120 active volcanoes. Since last year, tens of people have died in Indonesia in volcano incidents.
One of the worst volcano incidents was the 2018 eruption of Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano, as it caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java after parts of the mountain fell into the ocean, killing 430 people.
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