Indonesia evacuates residents near erupting volcano

Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency warned of the eruption on Thursday, raising the alert for Mount Ruang volcano to its highest level. The volcano has been spitting volcanic ash and fire into the sky in ever-larger spurts since Tuesday, some of them accompanied by roaring sounds and earthquakes. The agency said less intense volcanic activity began at Mount Ruang in early April.

How many people have to evacuate? The government had ordered only 825 people to evacuate the immediate area but also told many others within four miles of the volcano to leave. On Tuesday, the agency had already imposed a state of emergency order on the area. It advised individuals living near the volcano to wear masks to avoid inhaling ash spewed by the volcano.

Dig deeper: Listen to Onize Ohikere’s World Tour report on The World and Everything in It podcast about landslides in Indonesia.