Large eruption at Mount Kelut forces evacuation

2 people have been killed and over 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from the vicinity of Mount Kelut (Kelud) after it erupted explosively on 13^th February at around 23:29 (local time).

Since the beginning of January 2014 there had been an increase in both shallow and deep volcanogenic earthquakes along with an increase in water temperature at the crater lake, leading to the alert level being raised to 3 (out of 4) and a 5km restriction zone around the crater.

Approximately 90 minutes before the alert was raised to 4, the volcano erupted resulting in the explosion being heard 125 miles (200 km) away and an ash column reaching 30 km into the atmosphere. Over 200,000 people in 36 villages located 6 miles (10 km) from the volcano were advised to evacuate immediately.

3 international airports in Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta have also been shut down due to the widespread ash which has been reported to be up to 5 cm thick. Towns and cities as far away as 80 miles (130 km) away have experienced ash falls up to 5 cm thick.

The ash fall also caused roofs to collapse under the weight of the ash leading to the 2 reported deaths. Just a few centimetres of ash can cause roofs to collapse especially poorly constructed ones made of weak material.

Kelut, also known as Kelud is a 1731 metres stratovolcano located on the island of Java. Eruptions have dated back to 230 BCE and the volcano has had episodes of eruptions as large as a VEI 4 since then. A VEI 4 eruption in 1919 lead to the death of over 5000 people and another VEI 4 eruption in February 1990 lead to the death of more than 30 people.