Padang, Indonesia –
Indonesia’s Mount Marapi erupted Sunday in a plume of white and gray smoke, stranding and injuring climbers and spreading ash over several villages.
Ahmad Rifandi, an official with Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, said two climbing routes were closed after the eruption, and residents living on the slopes of Marapi were forced to move 3 kilometers (1 km) from the crater’s mouth due to possible lava. He was advised not to leave the area (.8 miles). Marapi Observatory.
On Saturday, about 75 climbers became stranded as they began to climb the approximately 2,900-meter (9,480-foot) mountain. Hari Agustian, an official at the local search and rescue agency in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, said about 26 climbers were still waiting to be rescued, and about 168 people, including police and soldiers, had been sent to search. .
Eight of those rescued were taken to hospital with burns, and one also suffered broken limbs.
Videos on social media showed climbers fleeing to evacuation shelters, their faces and hair dirty from volcanic dust and rain.
The eruption sent a plume of ash more than 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) into the air, spreading a cloud of hot ash for several kilometers.
National Disaster Management Authority spokesperson Abdul Muhari said ash fall covered several villages and blocked sunlight. Authorities handed out masks and urged residents to wear glasses to protect themselves from volcanic ash.
Approximately 1,400 people live on the slopes of Mount Marapi in the closest villages, Rubai and Goba Kumantian, about 5-6 kilometers (3.1-3.7 miles) from the summit.
Abdul Muhari said Marapi’s alert level remained at the third-highest of four levels, with authorities closely monitoring the volcano after sensors detected an increase in activity in recent weeks. I confirmed that it was.
Mount Marapi has been active since its eruption in January, which caused no casualties. It is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and is prone to seismic upheaval because it is located on the Pacific Rim of Volcanics, an arc of volcanoes and faults that encircles the Pacific Basin.
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Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
