Violent eruption in Indonesia Semeru volcano spews 2000 meter high column of ash
The authorities declare the highest warning level after an eruption of Semeru on Java. The volcano had previously spewed a column of ash several kilometers high.
19.11.2025, 19:55
19.11.2025, 20:15
dpa
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- The Semeru volcano on the Indonesian island of Java has erupted and thrown a 2000-meter-high ash cloud into the sky.
- The authorities raised the warning level to the highest level. Three villages were evacuated.
- The eruption continued throughout the day and covered villages in the surrounding area with volcanic ash.
- Semeru has erupted several times in the past 200 years.
In Indonesia, the Semeru volcano on the island of Java has erupted, throwing a kilometer-high cloud of ash into the sky. The authorities in the Southeast Asian island state have now raised the warning level for the mountain of fire to the highest level.
Disaster control spokesman Abdul Muhari said that the danger zone around the volcano had been extended to a radius of eight kilometers. More than 300 people from three villages had been accommodated in emergency shelters. There were no reports of fatalities.
According to the volcanology authority, the eruption began in the afternoon (local time). The ash column rose around two kilometers from the summit. At the same time, pyroclastic flows - avalanches of hot gas and rock that plummet down volcanic slopes at high speed - flowed down. The last time there was a violent eruption was at the end of 2022.
The eruption lasted all day and covered villages in the area with volcanic ash. Videos circulated on the internet showed a dense cloud of ash sweeping through a wooded valley to a river under a bridge. Several hundred residents, their faces smeared with volcanic dust and rain, fled to emergency shelters or made their way to safe areas.
Highest mountain on the island of Java
Semeru is also known as Mahameru and has erupted several times over the past 200 years. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of people continue to live on its fertile slopes. The last major eruption of Mount Semeru in December last year left 51 people dead. Several hundred people suffered burns and more than 10,000 were evacuated. Almost 3000 houses were permanently evacuated.
Indonesia has 129 active volcanoes. The country with a population of more than 270 million is located on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", a horseshoe-shaped series of tectonic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur repeatedly due to plates of the earth's crust shifting against each other.
