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Indonesia's Ibu volcano erupts again, spewing lava

By AAP Newswire

Jun 6, 2024

Indonesia Volcano — The alert status for Indonesia's Mount Ubu volcano remains at level four, the highest. -AP

Indonesia's Mount Ibu volcano has erupted again, firing red bright lava and rocks into the night sky and triggering a spectacular display of volcanic lightning.

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The 1325m-high volcano on the eastern island of Halmahera erupted twice on Thursday, Heruningtyas Desi Purnamasari an official at the country's volcanology agency PVMBG told Reuters.

The first eruption was at 1.30am, spewing incandescent lava and rocks as lightning flashes lit up its crater, PVMBG footage showed.

The second eruption was at 7.46am for two minutes, shooting volcanic ash as high as 1200m. Clouds of grey ash billowed into the sky from the crater, images from PVMBG showed.

"The alert status of the volcano is still level four or the highest," Heruningtyas said.

The agency banned any activities within 7km of the crater.

Thursday's volcanic activity was the latest in a series of eruptions since May. Ibu volcano also erupted on Tuesday, spewing 5km columns of grey ash into the sky.

Authorities have evacuated seven villages nearby since May 16 but no new evacuation planned after the latest eruption.

Indonesia sits on the geologically active Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has 127 active volcanoes.

By AAP Newswire

Australian Associated Press