JAKARTA - A remote Indonesian volcano sent a tower of ash spewing into the sky on April 19, after nearly half a dozen eruptions earlier in the week forced thousands to evacuate when molten rocks rained down on their villages.

Mount Ruang in Indonesia’s outermost region of North Sulawesi started erupting late on April 16, with a spectacular mix of fiery orange lava, a towering ash column and volcanic lightning seen.

Officials said on the morning of April 19 that Ruang had calmed, but it started to belch ash again hours later after the authorities maintained the highest alert level and told residents to stay out of a 6km exclusion zone.

“I was very surprised, the mountain erupted again. We are scared,” said 30-year-old resident Riko, who lives on neighbouring Tagulandang island.

The country’s volcanology agency said the eruption sent a plume of smoke 400m above the peak.

“There was an eruption of Mount Ruang, North Sulawesi,” it said in a statement. “The ash column was observed to be grey in colour... leaning towards the south.”

Hundreds of locals on neighbouring Tagulandang island were seen clearing their yards of volcanic material, with the help of soldiers and police officers, according to an AFP journalist.

Some described their panic and rush to safety when the eruptions began days ago.

“I evacuated. There was a house. I stayed there. And then it rained and rocks fell. I prayed: ‘God have mercy, please help me, God’,” said teacher Ninice Hoata, 59.

Other residents pleaded for more assistance and expressed fears of another eruption.

“We really need tarpaulin assistance as soon as possible, to temporarily cover the leaking roof,” said 64-year-old resident Herman Sahoa. “We are worried there will be a follow-up (eruption) because there is information about that.”

The volcanology agency had warned in an earlier statement that the volcanic activity at Ruang was “still high” with potential dangers including flying rocks, hot clouds and lava flows. It advised all residents to wear masks to prevent respiratory issues.

Thousands evacuated

Houses elsewhere could be seen lying empty and electricity was out in parts of the island before the April 19 eruption. Officials said on April 18 that communications had been knocked out in parts of both Ruang and Tagulandang, which is home to around 20,000 people.

Mr Sahid Samihing, a 53-year-old father of three from Tagulandang, said he feared his belongings would be ruined after volcanic rocks peppered his roof.

“If it’s not covered, it will destroy the house. It was terrifying. No one would not be scared. Everybody was scared. I experienced this event directly.”

More than 6,000 residents of Tagulandang have been evacuated to the other side of the island that faces away from the crater, an official from the Sitaro islands disaster management agency told AFP.

There were no reports of deaths or injuries but authorities said a day earlier that they hoped to evacuate 11,000 people from the exclusion zone.

Some of those affected took cover in makeshift shelters at churches and school buildings, the AFP journalist said.

The closure of a nearby international airport in Manado city, more than 100km from the crater, was extended to the evening of April 19, national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement.

The alert level was upheld for the exclusion zone around the crater, and there were repeated warnings about further eruptions and parts of the volcano collapsing into the sea, which could cause a tsunami.

In 2018, the crater of Mount Anak Krakatoa between Java and Sumatra islands partly collapsed when a major eruption sent huge chunks of the volcano sliding into the ocean, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 400 people and left thousands injured.

Mount Ruang’s last major eruption was in 2002, when residents also had to be evacuated.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”. AFP