Mount Marapi, in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, erupted today, generating plumes of smoke and ash more than 3,000 meters high and spewing clouds of hot ash several kilometers north.
The information was published by the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
According to an official at the Marapi surveillance post, Ahmad Rifandi, there were no casualties and residents of the area were advised to remain three kilometers from the mouth of the crater and to be alert to the danger of a possible lava emission.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said several villages were covered in ash, blocking the sun in many areas.
Authorities distributed masks and urged residents to wear glasses to protect themselves from volcanic ash, he added.
Marapi’s eruption alert level has remained at the second highest level, Abdul Muhari said, confirming that authorities have been closely monitoring the volcano after sensors detected increasing activity in recent weeks.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said today that it is currently evaluating the possibility of a tsunami due to Marapi’s volcanic activity.
The nearly 2,900-meter mountain has been active since January, when it erupted, generating dense columns of ash and steam that rose up to 400 meters above the crater. There were no records of victims.
Marapi is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, a region prone to seismic disturbances due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines surrounding the Pacific basin.
Source: TSF
