Mount Gamalama in Indonesia erupts, closes Sultan Babullah Airport

After seven months of hibernation, Indonesia’s Mount Gamalama erupted on Wednesday, spewing ash 600 metres into the atmosphere. Authorities closed the Babullah Airport on Ternate Island due to the volcanic ash.

A spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, Sutopo Nugroho, says Sultan Babullah Airport would remain close until 10 am on Thursday, reports AAP. The eruption followed an undersea earthquake which measured 4.6 on the Richter scale.

Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and home to 127 active volcanos, has been hit recently by volcanic eruptions. On May 22, Mount Sinabung erupted anew, causing 10,000 residents to flee their homes and killing seven people.

On Monday, a volcano on Lombok, a resort island, caused the temporary closure of the island’s international airport and cancelled flights from Australia to Bali. Ternate Island, where Gamalama is located, belongs to the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia.

Mount Gamalama's last eruption was in December 2015 when it disrupted economic activities in Ternate and closed the airport for two weeks. Before that, the volcano erupted on July 16, 2015 at 9:58 am. The volcanic ash it spewed then was higher at 1,500 metres into the sky, reports The Jakarta Post.

Below is a video from Mount Gamalama’s 2013 eruption.

VIDEO: Indonesia’s Mount Gamalama volcano erupts showering nearby Ternate with ash

Source: ODN