MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for the second time in two weeks, spewing ash nearly two kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and littering surrounding villages with debris .
The alert level for the volcano on the island of Sulawesi has been raised again to the highest level by the Indonesian Geological Survey after sensors recorded increasing volcanic activity. The agency urged residents and climbers to stay at least 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the volcano’s crater.
The 725-meter-high volcano in North Sulawesi province is located about 95 kilometers northeast of Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, the provincial capital.
The airport was closed Tuesday morning because of reduced visibility and the dangers posed by ash to aircraft engines, said Ambar Suryoko, head of the regional airport authority.
Ash, grit and stones fell from the sky in cities across the region, including Manado, a city of more than 430,000 people where drivers had to turn on their headlights during the day.
“It was dark and the eruption rained stones on the post,” said Yulius Ramopolii, the head of the Mount Ruang monitoring post. “The vibrations were intense, knocking out electricity, and volcanic earthquakes shook the glass windows and everything around us.”
He said the eruption blocked the sun and left several villages covered in falling debris. No injuries were reported, Ramopolii said.
More than 11,000 people had been evacuated after the April 17 eruption, as authorities warned that a large eruption could send part of the volcano into the sea and trigger a tsunami that could endanger surrounding villages.
Fewer than 3,000 remained in shelters after the government lowered its alert level from four to the second highest and reopened the airport after four days.
Indonesia’s geological agency on Tuesday warned people on Tagulandang island, especially those living near the coast, of the risk of hot volcanic clouds and a tsunami due to eruptions of material entering the sea or a volcanic dome collapsing into the sea.
Ruang is one of around 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – a series of fault lines stretching from the western coasts of the Americas through Japan and Southeast Asia – the archipelago nation is vulnerable to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
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Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta contributed to this report.