Although Mount Semeru’s eruption seemed to be lessening on Monday, rescuers were still pulling more people from adjacent towns after the eruption in Indonesia. So far the total number of evacuees reached 2,489.
Warnings of danger from cooled lava prompted the evacuations, where over 2000 people were compelled to evacuate Sunday’s eruption of Mount Semeru in Java, The largest island in Indonesia.
No casualties are reported so far. Hundreds of rescuers have been deployed in the worst-affected villages of Sumberwuluh and Supiturang, where houses were buried to their rooftops by volcanic debris.
The eruption occurred after monsoon rains eroded and finally collapsed the lava dome atop the volcano — Indonesia’s highest at 3,676 meters (12,060 feet). The volcano spewed a cloud of ash 15 kilometers into the sky as it erupted and unleashed rivers of lava down the side of the mountain.
A state of emergency is in place for the next two weeks
