PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Volcanic ash spewed from Indonesia’s Mount Marapi closed airports and blanketed nearby communities on the island of Sumatra on Friday.
The nearly 2,900-meter (9,480-foot) volcano in the Agam district of West Sumatra province is about 113 kilometers (70 miles) north of Minangkabau International Airport in Padang, the provincial capital.
On Dec. 3, Marapi spewed thick columns of ash up to 3 kilometers (more than 9,800 feet) that killed 23 climbers and injured several others who were trapped during a wonderful weekend eruption.
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Smaller eruptions since then spewed more ash into the air, and on Friday the volcano began belching ash that reduced visibility hundreds of kilometers away, said Indra Saputra of Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.
Minangkabau airport was closed Friday afternoon after ash, which can pose a deadly threat to aircraft, reached its airspace.
The head of the airport authority, Megi Helmiadi, said two foreign flights from Kuala Lumpur and 13 domestic flights had been cancelled and that the closure would remain in place until 10 p. m. local time (1500 GMT), although it could be extended depending on conditions.
Marapi is known for sudden eruptions that are difficult to predict because they are not caused by a deep movement of magma, which sets off tremors that register on seismic monitors.
The volcano is at Indonesia’s third-highest alert point since 2011, indicating higher-than-normal volcanic activity that is forcing climbers and villagers to move more than 3 kilometers (1. 8 miles) away from the summit, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disasters. Mitigation.
Although hikers are not expected to enter the danger zone, the local government has stated that many other people are likely going further than permitted.
Marapi is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The country is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
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