Indonesia ordered an evacuation alert status to residents of the main island of Java after the government confirmed a volcanic eruption in Mount Kelud, one of the most dangerous volcano in the densely populated island of Java.
Mount Kelud Eruption (Photo: Twitter Hilmi Dzakaaul I.)
The alert status of Volcanic eruptions was raised late Thursday just hours before it began erupting. TV footage showed ash and rocks raining down on nearby villages as the villagers fled in cars, motorbikes and by foot towards various evacuation centers in the island.
According to the National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugruho, there are more than 200,000 people from 36 villages in a 10-kilometer (six-mile) area around Mount Kelud which is located in Kediri district in the Eastern part of the island of Java were asked to evacuate.
Mount Kelud is considered as one of the most active volcanoes in the world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia, the country also sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of seismic activity around the basin of Pacific Ocean.
The volcanic eruption of Mount Kelud occurred at 22:50 local time (UTC+&). The eruption of the 1,731-meter (5,712 foot) Mount Kelud sent volcanic ash covering an area of 500 kilometers (310 mi) in diameter.
The rain brought about by the eruption covered third of Java main island from Malang to Jogja. The active volcano has already claimed a total of 15,000 lives since 1500. The first recorded eruption of Mount Kelud was way back 1000 AD and since then 30 eruptions occurred thereafter.
