The landscape frozen and covered with ash took on the appearance of an abandoned planet, after the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Semeru, Saturday, December 4, in East Java. Two people were missing and eight wanted in Curah Kerobokan, a badly affected village where more than 300 families have seen their homes destroyed by lava and ash, according to the authorities. It is in this village in the region of Lumajang that a lifeless body was found. In addition, 41 people, including two pregnant women, suffered from severe burns after being hit by incandescent lava, said Indah Masdar, vice-governor of Lumajang.
“We transferred the burns to dispensaries, and for those with more serious burns, they were hospitalized”, he clarified.
Rescuers are struggling to make progress due to the dense rubble and cold lava reaching their knees, complicating efforts to find the two missing and evacuate eight people trapped in a mud-covered building. Access to Lumajang is cut off by cold lava flows which destroyed a bridge, according to Mr. Masdar.
130 active volcanoes on the archipelago
In surrounding villages, residents panicked and fled when cold lava and volcano ash reached their communities, authorities said. They tried to send a team to come to the aid of the population but it did not reach its destination because of the debris of volcanic ash. Shortly after the eruption, several areas were plunged into darkness after being covered by volcanic ash.
Mount Semeru, the highest in Java, rises to 3,676 meters. Images from Indonesia’s Meteorological and Geophysical Agency showed ash falling into the Indian Ocean. The last major eruption of Semeru dates from December 2020. It also caused the flight of thousands of people and covered entire villages.
Indonesia is on the “Circle of fire” of the Pacific, where the meeting of the continental plates causes a high seismic activity. This Southeast Asian archipelago has nearly 130 active volcanoes on its territory. At the end of 2018, the eruption of a volcano between the islands of Java and Sumatra had caused an underwater landslide and a tsunami, killing nearly 400 people.