Mount Ibu, a volcano in Indonesia, is causing concern after a series of eruptions. It’s located on an island called Halmahera in the North Maluku province. The volcano has been spewing ash and dark clouds into the sky since last week. This ash and smoke have been reaching heights of up to 5,000 meters, which is high.
Because of this increased activity, the authorities have raised the alert level to the highest possible on Thursday. Muhammad Wafid, who is in charge of Indonesia’s Geology Agency, explained that both what they can see with their eyes and what instruments are showing them indicate that the volcano is acting up.
People who live close to Mount Ibu, as well as tourists, are being warned to stay at least 7 kilometers away from the crater. That’s about 4.4 miles, roughly the distance from one side of a big city to another! This is because there’s a risk of an even bigger eruption where lava could come out from the top of the volcano.
There are thousands of people who live within this 7-kilometer radius. The local authorities have set up tents for evacuation, just in case. However, they haven’t told people to leave their homes yet. The earthquakes deep inside the volcano and all the stuff coming out of it are causing worries.
Indonesia has a lot of volcanoes—120, to be exact! This is because it’s in a part of the world where there’s a lot of movement happening under the ground. It’s called the “Ring of Fire.”
This ring is made up of lots of fault lines around the Pacific Ocean, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are quite common. So, keeping an eye on volcanoes like Mount Ibu is really important to keep everyone safe.
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