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Residents flee Mount Rinjani on the island of Java after eruption of Calbuco volcano a day earlier causes evacuation of more than 500,000
Indonesia’s Mount Rinjani volcano spews ash, gas; 1 dead, dozens hurt
Indonesia’s Mount Rinjani volcano has erupted, spewing ash as high as 4km and killing one person, officials say.
The rumbling eruption of Mount Calbuco volcano, which sits on the Pacific coast of Argentina’s central province of Santa Cruz, killed at least one person when the mountain collapsed and triggered a small landslide on Wednesday.
On Friday, a US embassy Twitter post described “biblical” columns of ash. Indonesia’s geophysics agency warned of a possible further, dramatic explosion by the volcano, which is about 135 miles from the capital, Jakarta.
Rinjani, about 70 miles from Rinjani, also spewed lava and gas on Friday afternoon. But one of the official fatalities was announced later Friday morning, two health ministry officials told the Associated Press.
The volcano in Javanese regency of Pandeglang, in the southeast of the island, has been active for several months and more than 95,000 people have been evacuated from the slopes.
According to Irwan Wibisono, an official with the volcanic eruption and emergency department of the national disaster mitigation agency, eight people were injured by a gas explosion in the village of Tarakan on Thursday, although none of the injuries was life-threatening.
In northern Lombok, at least 30 people died when a volcano on the island last month erupted.
Earthquakes that triggered the February eruption of Mount Agung on Bali, a popular tourist destination, have killed about 350 people in and around the remote, tourist-heavy resort island.
Mt Agung’s latest surge has brought the death toll to 181 in the area around its summit since October.
In Indonesia’s northern Aceh province, the national disaster mitigation agency recorded at least three more deaths from recent earthquakes and floods.
With Associated Press