A solder carrying a victim Indonesia Volcano Erupts:Three people have died and thousands have been forced to leave their homes during a...
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| A solder carrying a victim |
Mount Kelud erupted violently soon after its alert status was raised to the highest level - the blast could be heard for miles. This spectacular volcanic eruption in Indonesia has killed two people and forced mass evacuations, disrupting long haul flights and closing international airports.
Mount Kelud, considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the main island of Java, spewed red hot ash and rocks high into the air late Thursday night just hours after its alert status was raised.
Villagers in eastern Java described the terror of volcanic materials raining down on their homes, while AFP correspondents at the scene saw residents covered in grey dust fleeing in cars and on motorbikes towards evacuation centres.
Sunar, a 60-year-old from a village eight kilometres (five miles) in Blitar district, said his home also collapsed after being hit with “rocks the size of fists”.
“The whole place was shaking it was like we were on a ship in high seas. We fled and could see lava in the distance flowing into a river,” said Sunar, who goes by one name.
Mount Kelud erupted violently about 90 minutes after authorities raised its alert status to the highest level, said Indonesia's volcano monitoring agency. It said the explosion could be heard up to 125 miles away, with tremors still wracking the volcano.
Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, was carpeted with grey ash up to 1in deep. In villages, cattle were covered.
The two who died were killed when the roofs of their homes collapsed under the weight of ash and volcanic debris unleashed during the overnight eruption.
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International airports in Jogyakarta, Solo and Surabaya were closed and Virgin Australia said it had cancelled all its Friday flights to Bali, Phuket, Christmas Island and Cocos Island because of the eruption.
The 5,680ft Mount Kelud in eastern Java - Indonesia's most densely populated island and home to more than half of the country's 240 million people - has been rumbling for several weeks and was under close observation.
Kelud is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the 'Ring of Fire' - a series of fault lines stretching from the western hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
Ash from Mount Kelud covers a Garuda Indonesia airplane at Adi Sucipto airport in Yogyakarta
Flights from three international airports were cancelled
Due to the fertile volcanic soil and the shortage of space on Java, hundreds of thousands of people live close to active volcanoes. They are used to the rumblings, but their proximity to the peaks presents difficulties for authorities.
The last major eruption at Kelud was in 1990, when more than 30 people died and hundreds were injured. In 1919, a powerful explosion, reportedly heard hundreds of kilometers, away killed more than 5,000.
Earlier this month, Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province erupted just as authorities were allowing thousands of evacuated villagers to return to its slopes.
Sinabung has been erupting for four months, forcing the evacuation of more than 30,000 people.
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| A housing complex is seen covered with ash from Mount Kelud, in Yogyakarta February 14, 2014. (Reuters / Dwi Oblo |
The Indonesian island of Java NOW is in a state of emergency, as a gigantic volcano eruption causes 200,000 people to flee their homes, as airports shut down and 17-kilomoter plumes of ash blanketed the sky.
Thursday night’s eruption of Mount Kelud was so powerful it was heard at distances of 130 kilometers in the country’s second largest city of Surabaya, as ash blanketed everything in the vicinity. The volcano is considered to be among the most dangerous on the densely populated island.
Friday saw two people lose their lives after roofs collapsed onto them under the sheer volume of ash, the local disaster mitigation agency reported. Another elderly man died from inhaling the ash.
Local TV stations showed a surreal picture of dust-covered houses, cars and streets, with ash raining down and no light breaking through.
The mountain, located in the province of East Java
Sourse:RT
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