(Jakarta) The Ibu volcano, located in eastern Indonesia, very active since the start of the year, experienced three new eruptions on Thursday, projecting a column of ash 5 km above the summit, according to authorities.
Three eruptions occurred successively, the first shortly after 1 a.m. local time (12 p.m. Eastern time, Wednesday) then at 7:46 a.m. and 8:11 a.m. local time, the National Agency for Volcanology and Geology said in a statement.
The first eruption projected a column of ash more than 5 km above the summit while the last eruption lasted about two minutes, Agency Director Muhammad Wafid said in the statement.
Having erupted around a hundred times since the start of the year, the volcano is currently at the highest alert level in the Indonesian system of four. The authorities raised the alert level to the maximum in mid-May.
The population is urged not to enter an exclusion zone between four and seven kilometers around the crater and to wear respiratory masks and protect their eyes.
According to official figures from 2022, more than 700,000 people live on Halmahera Island.
On May 17, hundreds of people living near the volcano were evacuated as a precaution after a new eruption which led to the alert level being raised to its maximum threshold.
A vast archipelago, Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the “Pacific Ring of Fire.”
In April, the Ruang volcano in northern Sulawesi province erupted more than half a dozen times, forcing thousands of residents on neighboring islands to evacuate.