As an Indonesian volcano erupts, posing a threat of a tsunami, thousands are evacuated. See the terrifying images

On Thursday, a volcano erupted five times, causing officials to close a local airport and issue a warning about a potential tsunami danger. As a result, thousands of people were evacuated by Indonesian rescue workers.

Mount Ruang erupted four times on Wednesday, and overnight it blazed with lava against a background of lightning strikes.

The closest international airport in Manado city, Sulawesi island, was closed for a whole day by officials on Thursday morning due to the volcano in Indonesia’s most remote area continuing to spew smoke.

Authorities said that they were working quickly to remove 11,000 people from the surrounding region, which included the isolated island of Tagulandang, which is inhabited by around 20,000 people.

Officials said that some individuals were already attempting to escape in a panic.

According to a statement released on Thursday by Jandry Paendong, an official with the local search and rescue organization, “people evacuated last night on their own but without direction due to the volcano’s eruption and materials in the form of small rocks that fell, so the people scattered to find evacuation routes.”

He stated that twenty employees were using rubber boats to assist with the evacuation of people along the volcano’s shoreline.

on order for his group to “carry out evacuations for people in the coast or near the coast” facing the volcano, he requested more boats and supplies.

Visitors and locals were advised to stay outside the six-kilometer exclusion zone.

Before four additional explosions on Wednesday, more than 800 residents were first evacuated from Ruang to the neighboring island of Tagulandang following the first eruption on Tuesday evening.

WARNING OF TSUNAMI
Authorities also issued a tsunami warning in response to the eruptions.

The head of Indonesia’s volcanology agency, Hendra Gunawan, stated in a statement on Wednesday that “the communities in Tagulandang island, particularly those residing near the beach, (need) to be on alert for the potential ejection of incandescent rocks, hot cloud discharges and tsunamis caused by the collapse of the volcano’s body into the sea.”

The prior experience added to the authorities’ concerns.

A significant eruption in 2018 caused large portions of Mount Anak Krakatoa to fall into the ocean, partially collapsing the volcano’s crater and injuring many more. The tsunami that resulted from the eruption claimed over 400 lives.

Because Indonesia is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc formed by the collision of tectonic plates that spans the Pacific basin and extends from Japan to Southeast Asia, the country is subject to regular seismic and volcanic activity.

Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado City, which is more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Mount Ruang, was forced to close due to the volcano’s effect for a whole day on Thursday evening.

The Manado area airport authority office’s chief, Ambar Suryoko, stated in a statement that the runway closure was “due to the spread of volcanic ash, which could endanger flight safety.”

Airlines to Singapore, as well as places in South Korea and China, operate out of this airport.

“Every flight is affected because the airport is impacted by Mount Ruang’s volcanic ash eruption,” a 29-year-old Manado airport officer named Dimas said over the phone to AFP.