SUGIHWARAS (Indonesia), Nov 3: Indonesia’s Mount Kelud volcano has erupted, according to seismographic signals, but signs of any ash or lava are not visible because of heavy cloud cover, a top official said on Saturday.

An estimated 350,000 people live within 10km of the volcano which is about 90km southwest of Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city and one of its busiest airports.

When Mount Kelud erupted in 1990 at least 30 people were killed. In 1919, about 5,000 died as Kelud ejected scalding water from its crater lake.

In Sugihwaras, a village 8km from the crater that suffered casualties and was badly damaged in 1990, many people panicked when they heard the reports.

“The mosque announced that Kelud had erupted and there was a half hour to evacuate,” said Ngatijo, a villager.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, officials said.

Saut Simatupang, an official at Indonesia’s Centre for Vulcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, said continuous tremors had been detected, indicating an eruption.

But this was impossible to confirm visually.

“There is heavy cloud over there, so even ash could not be seen. But instrumentally it has erupted, as shown by the seismographic records that were over the scale,” he said.

Another official at the centre, Gede Suantika, said it was only a matter of time before there was a big eruption.

“Yes, sure it will happen. We are awaiting a big eruption,” he said.

The authorities have been monitoring the volcano in East Java for several weeks and raised its alert status to the highest level about two weeks ago when its activity increased and an eruption appeared imminent.

The volcano’s cratre lake makes it much harder to monitor than other volcanoes.—Reuters