Indonesia's Ruang volcano erupts, alert status raised

Indonesia's Ruang volcano off the island of Sulawesi has erupted, spewing ash and lava, after a similar event earlier this month led to hundreds of evacuations and an airport closure.

The country's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) raised the alert level to the highest following the Tuesday morning eruption, urging residents not to get near the volcano.

The island of Ruang, in the province of North Sulawesi, is home to more than 800 people, with most evacuated following the April 19 eruption. It was not immediately clear how many more were evacuated on Tuesday.

The country's disaster mitigation agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Footage on social media on Tuesday, which Reuters could not immediately authenticate, showed lava flowing down the volcano, which is about 100 km from the provincial capital Manado.

Transport authorities temporarily closed Manado's airport after the eruption earlier this month, while falling rocks and ash damaged homes and forced a nearby hospital to evacuate.

Authorities downgraded the status level to level three last week before bumping it up again to level four on Tuesday.

Indonesia straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity where multiple tectonic plates meet.