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Photos: Indonesia’s Mount Semeru Erupts, Displacing Nearly 2,000

More than 1,900 people were evacuated from the area surrounding Mount Semeru in Indonesia after the volcano erupted early Sunday morning, spewing columns of thick gray ash high into the sky and across miles of the eastern part of Java Island.

Local authorities from the B.N.P.B., Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, have not received any reports of casualties but said that personnel from an array of agencies had performed search and rescue checks through Sunday evening.

As of about 4 p.m. local time Sunday, officials said a total of 1,979 people had been displaced. In a news release, the B.N.P.B. said that the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation had also raised the alert level for Mount Semeru to level IV, the highest possible category.

The Semeru volcano’s last major eruption occurred as recently as December 2021, a disaster that killed more than 50 people and injured hundreds more. Photographs of the aftermath of Sunday’s eruption show volunteers and residents responding to the latest blast.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A temporary shelter in a room at a community hall in Candipuro village following Mount Semeru’s volcanic eruption in Lumajang, Indonesia, on Monday.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Salvaging belongings at Kajar Kuning village on Monday after Mount Semeru erupted. Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and frequently experiences volcanic activity.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Villagers moving their livestock. The volcanic eruption was the latest disaster to hit Indonesia. Last month, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake killed at least 310 people in the Cianjur region of West Java.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Resting after the eruption. When Mount Semeru erupted last year, rescue workers spent days digging out survivors who were buried under volcanic ash.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Villagers haul away a refrigerator from an area affected by the volcanic eruption.

Credit…Umarul Faruq/Antara Foto, via Reuters

Volunteers distributing food in Candipuro village. Mount Semeru is Java’s tallest mountain and one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A house is covered with ash following the volcanic eruption.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Whisking away belongings in Lumajang on Monday.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A house is inundated by mud on Monday, after Mount Semeru’s volcanic eruption.

Credit…Juni Kriswanto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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