Mount Semeru releases volcanic materials during an eruption on Sunday, December 4, 2022 in Lumajang, East Java, Indonesia.
(Photo: AP)
(CNN) --
Indonesia raised its alert to the highest level on Sunday after Mount Semeru, a volcano in its East Java province, erupted, prompting the evacuation of nearby residents.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the plume from the volcano reached 15 kilometers (about 50,000 feet) into the air.
The agency said in a statement on Sunday that it is monitoring the possibility of a tsunami, but no significant changes in tidal levels have been observed at observation points in Japan and abroad.
Indonesia's disaster management agency (BNPB) advised people not to carry out activities within a radius of 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) from the top of Mount Semeru and said nearly 100 residents have been evacuated.
So far no injuries or deaths have been reported.
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The Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) said in a statement that the alert level for volcanic activity had been raised from level III to the highest, level IV.
A pyroclastic flow rushes down the side of Mount Semeru during an eruption in Lumajang, East Java.
(Photo: AP)
Mount Semeru, which lies about 800 kilometers southeast of the capital Jakarta, began to erupt at 2:46 a.m. local time on Sunday (2:46 p.m. ET on Saturday), according to the BNPB.
Videos shared by the BNPB showed nearby towns covered in gray ash.
The evacuation of people, including children and the elderly, living near the volcano in East Java province is underway, with 93 residents evacuated so far to shelters, Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency BNPB said. , in a statement seen by the Reuters news agency.
With the alert level raised, authorities warned residents not to carry out any activity within 8 km (5 miles) of the Semeru eruption center, adding that hot ash clouds had reached as far as 11.8 miles ( 19 km) from the center of the eruption.
PVMBG chief Hendra Gunawan said the agency saw the potential for increased magma flow this year compared to previous eruptions in 2021 and 2020.
"Therefore, the hot clouds from Semeru could go further (this year) and at that distance there are many residences," he said.
Mount Semeru spews smoke and ash in Lumajang on December 4, 2022. (Photo: Agus Harianto/AFP/Getty Images)
Java is the largest population center in the huge Indonesian archipelago and is home to the capital, Jakarta.
Mount Semeru, over 3,600 meters high, is the highest mountain in Java.
The eruption in the eastern part of Java comes after a series of earthquakes in the west of the island, including one last month that killed more than 300 people.
Dramatic video shows the moment a woman and a girl escape during the earthquake in Indonesia
The deadly late November earthquake that struck Cianjur in West Java was a shallow 5.6 magnitude temblor.
A much deeper 6.1 tremor that struck Gurat on Saturday sent people running out of buildings but did not cause much damage.
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