Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency warned residents not to undertake any activities within 5 km of the eruption center and asked them to stay 500 meters away from river banks due to the dangers of lava flow.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said it is monitoring the possibility of tsunamis there after the eruption, Japan’s NHK reported.
The agency quoted the agency as saying that the volcano, which erupted at about 11:18 am Japan time (02:18 GMT), may cause tsunamis to reach Okinawa Prefecture by 05:30 GMT.
Later, the Indonesian authorities raised the warning level of the volcano’s eruption to the fourth level, which is the highest level.
Video clips posted on social media showed gray clouds in nearby areas.
Mount Semeru volcano erupted in December last year, killing at least 48 people.
An earthquake in Java
The eruption of Mount Semeru comes a day after a strong earthquake struck the island of Java, Indonesia, causing panic and sending people into the streets, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
The US Geological Survey estimated the earthquake’s strength at 5.7 degrees, and said that its epicenter was 18 km southeast of Banjar, a city located between the provinces of West Java and Central Java, adding that it was at a depth of 112 km.
Suharyanto, director of the National Disaster Management Agency, said a resident was injured in Silawi village, Garut district, West Java province, and at least four houses and a school were damaged.
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake on November 21 killed at least 331 people and injured nearly 600 in Cianjur, West Java.
It was the largest earthquake in Indonesia since the 2018 earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, which killed about 4,340 people.
The country, which has a population of more than 270 million people, is frequently exposed to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because it is located in an area called the “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific Ocean, where earthquakes and tremors are frequent.
In 2004, a very strong earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami that claimed more than 230,000 lives in 12 countries, most of them in the Indonesian province of Aceh.
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