Jakarta (VNA) – The Ibu volcano in eastern Indonesia has spewed ash over a thousand times in January, according to an official report on January 19, as efforts are underway to evacuate thousands of villagers.
Mount Ibu, on the remote island of Halmahera, sent a column of smoke up to 4 kilometres into the sky in an eruption on January 15.
Indonesian officials called for the evacuation of 3,000 people living in six nearby villages.
It was one of 1,079 eruptions by the volcano recorded since January 1 by Indonesia’s Geological Agency, sending columns of ash reaching between 0.3 and 4 kilometres above its peak.
The latest big eruption occurred on January 19 at 1:15 a.m. local time. The volcano erupted 17 times on the day alone.
The local authorities had only managed to evacuate 517 residents as of the day, pledging to persuade those who remained to stay in safe shelters. Many have refused to evacuate, arguing that they were used to the situation and were in the harvest season.
Mount Ibu has shown a significant increase in volcanic activity since last June. Residents living near the mount and tourists have been advised to avoid a five to six-kilometre exclusion zone around the volcano’s peak and to wear face masks in case of falling ash.
Indonesia, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, has experienced intense volcanic and seismic activities.
Last November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-metre twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores erupted more than a dozen times in one week, killing nine people in its initial explosion.
Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province erupted more than half a dozen times last year, forcing thousands from nearby islands to evacuate./.
