Author: NINIEK KARMINI
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities said Thursday they have helped return more than 170 climbers who were trapped by Mount Semeru's sudden eruption the day before, while seismic activity at Java island's tallest volcano indicates the eruption will continue.
About 178 people, including climbers, porters, guides, tourism officials and tourists, began climbing the 3,676-meter (12,060-foot) mountain in East Java's Lumajang district on Wednesday and became stranded at the Ranu Kumbolo campsite.
“They are safe and are being helped to return,” Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, told a video news conference at Priatin.
Hettie Triastuti, another spokeswoman for the center, added that Ranu Kumbolo is a safe place, outside the main danger zone eight kilometers (five miles) from the crater. The tent site is located on the northern slope of the mountain, which is not in the path of the hot cloud moving to the south-southeast. However, climbers could be exposed to volcanic ash.
Mount Semeru in East Java province unleashed scorching clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rocks, lava and gas on Wednesday that continuously moved up to 13 kilometers (eight miles) down the slopes from midday to dusk, with a thick column of hot clouds rising two kilometers (1.2 miles) into the sky, prompting scientists to raise the volcano alert to the highest level, said Muhammad Wafid, head of the agency geology. Indonesia.
According to Wafid, a series of pyroclastic density flows descended the slopes, and incandescent avalanches of volcanic material were observed in the Besuk Cobocan River valley on the southern slope.
“Seismic activity at Mount Semeru showed that the eruption is continuing at a high level with increasing signs of avalanches,” he said.
He also warned people to stay away from the area along the Besuk Kobokan River where lava flows as scorching gas flowed down the slopes of Semeru, adding that authorities were considering expanding the danger zone beyond the current eight kilometers.
About 1,000 residents of three more at-risk villages in Lumajang district were evacuated to government shelters, said Abdul Mukhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. No casualties were reported.
Videos posted on social media showed a thick cloud of ash spreading across plantations and a forested valley towards a river crossed by a bridge.
Eruptions throughout the day covered several villages in thick volcanic ash and blocked out sunlight. Local media reported that some residents smelled sulfur and that two motorcyclists crashed due to hot ash on the bridge, causing severe burns.
Mount Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has erupted several times over the past 200 years. But like many of the archipelago's 129 active volcanoes, tens of thousands of people continue to live on its fertile slopes.
Semeru's last major eruption occurred in December 2021, killing 51 people and burning several hundred villages buried under layers of mud. At that time, more than 10,000 people were forced to leave the area, and the government removed about 2,970 houses from the danger zone.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 280 million people, lies on the Pacific Ocean's so-called “Ring of Fire,” a series of horseshoe-shaped faults prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
___
Associated Press writers Edna Tarigan and Dita Alangkara in Jakarta contributed to this report.
___
This story was translated from English by an AP editor using a generative artificial intelligence tool.
