Amidst the eruption of Mount Ruang, airports across Indonesia have been forced to shut down, leading to the evacuation of thousands.

Mount Ruang, situated in the secluded area of North Sulawesi in Indonesia, experienced multiple eruptions on Tuesday, as reported by the national volcanology authority. These volcanic activities prompted the evacuation of over 6,000 residents, the shutdown of an adjacent international airport, and the increase of the alert status to the maximum level, an AFP report noted.

The first eruption occurred early Tuesday at around 01:15 AM local time (1715 GMT Monday), followed by additional eruptions later in the morning.

The volcano released an ash plume that ascended over five kilometers (3.1 miles) above the earth.

Following these events, the authority reinstated a six-kilometer (3.7-mile) exclusion zone around the volcano and issued warnings to local inhabitants about the risks of glowing rock projectiles, pyroclastic flows, and potential tsunamis caused by volcanic materials entering the ocean.

Ruang, which is home to over 800 individuals, had seen evacuations earlier in the month. While some residents had returned after the downgrade of the emergency status on Monday, it was uncertain how many had returned to their homes and how many were evacuated anew.

The recent activity at Ruang also led to the closure of both Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado and Djalaludin Airport in Gorontalo, over 100 kilometers away in the provincial capital. AirNav Indonesia, the government-managed air traffic control company, issued a notice stating that the closure was due to volcanic ash from Ruang.

Indonesia, an extensive archipelago, regularly encounters volcanic and seismic disturbances due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

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