A volcanic eruption from Java's Mount Kelud, also written as Kelut, spurred evacuations near the volcano as well as the closures of three airports due to the ash.
Nearly 200,000 residents living on Java were forced to evacuate as Mount Kelud began violently spewing ash and rocks quite a distance from the volcano, reports AFP. Those who lived in a six-mile radius of the volcano were directed out of their villages and towards evacuation centers.
National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, "A rain of ash, sand and rocks is reaching up to 15 kilometers (nine miles)" from Mount Kelud. "Sparks of light can be continuously seen at the peak."
According to The Associated Press, three international airports had to be closed due to the ash. Ash has continued to fall since the volcano first began to actively erupt.
Mount Kelud is a 5,680 foot volcano and only one of the 130 active volcanoes on the islands of Indonesia. AFP notes that the volcano has killed more than 15,000 people since 1500.
No injuries have yet to be reported from the latest eruption from Mount Kelud, according to the AP.
image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
