More than 1,900 people were evacuated from the area surrounding Mount Semeru in Indonesia after the volcano erupted early Sunday morning, spewing columns of thick gray ash high into the sky and across miles of the eastern part of Java Island.
Local authorities from the B.N.P.B., Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, have not received any reports of casualties but said that personnel from an array of agencies had performed search and rescue checks through Sunday evening.
As of about 4 p.m. local time Sunday, officials said a total of 1,979 people had been displaced. In a news release, the B.N.P.B. said that the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation had also raised the alert level for Mount Semeru to level IV, the highest possible category.
A temporary shelter in a room at a community hall in Candipuro village following Mount Semeru’s volcanic eruption in Lumajang, Indonesia, on Monday.
Salvaging belongings at Kajar Kuning village on Monday after Mount Semeru erupted. Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and frequently experiences volcanic activity.
Villagers moving their livestock. The volcanic eruption was the latest disaster to hit Indonesia. Last month, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake killed at least 310 people in the Cianjur region of West Java.
Resting after the eruption. When Mount Semeru erupted last year, rescue workers spent days digging out survivors who were buried under volcanic ash.
Villagers haul away a refrigerator from an area affected by the volcanic eruption.
Volunteers distributing food in Candipuro village. Mount Semeru is Java’s tallest mountain and one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes.
A house is covered with ash following the volcanic eruption.
Whisking away belongings in Lumajang on Monday.
A house is inundated by mud on Monday, after Mount Semeru’s volcanic eruption.
