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Indonesia’s Mount Ibu Erupts as Disaster Agency Warns of Possible Floods, Cold Lava Flow

Mount Marapi volcano spews volcanic ash during an eruption as seen from Bukittinggi, West Sumatera province, Indonesia, May 30, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Al Fatah/ via Reuter
Mount Marapi volcano spews volcanic ash during an eruption as seen from Bukittinggi, West Sumatera province, Indonesia, May 30, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Al Fatah/ via Reuter
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Indonesia’s Mount Ibu Erupts as Disaster Agency Warns of Possible Floods, Cold Lava Flow

Mount Marapi volcano spews volcanic ash during an eruption as seen from Bukittinggi, West Sumatera province, Indonesia, May 30, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Al Fatah/ via Reuter
Mount Marapi volcano spews volcanic ash during an eruption as seen from Bukittinggi, West Sumatera province, Indonesia, May 30, 2024, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Al Fatah/ via Reuter

A volcano in Indonesia's eastern island of Halmahera erupted on Saturday spewing a five-km (3-mile) high ash cloud, the country's volcanology agency (PVMBG) said, while its disaster agency warned of potential flash floods and cold lava flow.

The eruption of Mount Ibu at 11:03 a.m. (0203 GMT) follows a series of eruptions in May, after authorities noticed an uptick of volcanic activity starting in April, leading to the evacuation of seven nearby villages.

"The ash column is grey with thick intensity and leaning towards the southwest," the agency said, adding that residents and tourists should maintain a distance of at least 7 km from the active crater.

Footage shared by the agency showed the volcano spewing ash that grew thicker and eventually dispersed.

Indonesia's disaster management agency BNPB told local authorities to anticipate secondary disasters such as flash floods and cold lava flow. Analysis by the nation's meteorology agency shows the region has the potential for moderate to heavy rain, although it did not say when.

"If there is a buildup of material left over from the eruption, it should be cleaned up immediately because it is dangerous. If there is heavy rain, flash floods could occur, cause damage and many fatalities," Suharyanto, the BNPB chief, had said in a statement on Friday.

The volcano has been on PVMBG's highest alert level since May 16. Mount Ibu's recent activity follows a series of eruptions of other volcanoes in Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has 127 active volcanoes.

Flash floods and cold lava flow from Mount Marapi, one of the most active volcanoes in West Sumatra province, covered several nearby districts following torrential rain on May 11, killing at least 67 people with 20 people still missing.

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84% of the World’s Coral Reefs Hit by Worst Bleaching Event on Record 

This handout photo taken on March 12, 2025 and released on March 26 by the Minderoo Foundation shows a diver inspecting corals impacted by a bleaching event on the Ningaloo Reef off Australia's west coast. (Photo by Violeta J Brosig / Minderoo Foundation / AFP)
This handout photo taken on March 12, 2025 and released on March 26 by the Minderoo Foundation shows a diver inspecting corals impacted by a bleaching event on the Ningaloo Reef off Australia's west coast. (Photo by Violeta J Brosig / Minderoo Foundation / AFP)
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84% of the World’s Coral Reefs Hit by Worst Bleaching Event on Record 

This handout photo taken on March 12, 2025 and released on March 26 by the Minderoo Foundation shows a diver inspecting corals impacted by a bleaching event on the Ningaloo Reef off Australia's west coast. (Photo by Violeta J Brosig / Minderoo Foundation / AFP)
This handout photo taken on March 12, 2025 and released on March 26 by the Minderoo Foundation shows a diver inspecting corals impacted by a bleaching event on the Ningaloo Reef off Australia's west coast. (Photo by Violeta J Brosig / Minderoo Foundation / AFP)

Harmful bleaching of the world's coral has grown to include 84% of the ocean's reefs in the most intense event of its kind in recorded history, the International Coral Reef Initiative announced Wednesday.

It's the fourth global bleaching event since 1998, and has now surpassed bleaching from 2014-17 that hit some two-thirds of reefs, said the ICRI, a mix of more than 100 governments, non-governmental organizations and others. And it's not clear when the current crisis, which began in 2023 and is blamed on warming oceans, will end.

“We may never see the heat stress that causes bleaching dropping below the threshold that triggers a global event,” said Mark Eakin, executive secretary for the International Coral Reef Society and retired coral monitoring chief for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We’re looking at something that’s completely changing the face of our planet and the ability of our oceans to sustain lives and livelihoods,” Eakin said.

Last year was Earth’s hottest year on record, and much of that is going into oceans. The average annual sea surface temperature of oceans away from the poles was a record 20.87 degrees Celsius (69.57 degrees Fahrenheit).

That's deadly to corals, which are key to seafood production, tourism and protecting coastlines from erosion and storms. Coral reefs are sometimes dubbed “rainforests of the sea” because they support high levels of biodiversity — approximately 25% of all marine species can be found in, on and around coral reefs.

Coral get their bright colors from the colorful algae that live inside them and are a food source for the corals. Prolonged warmth causes the algae to release toxic compounds, and the coral eject them. A stark white skeleton is left behind, and the weakened coral is at heightened risk of dying.

The bleaching event has been so severe that NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program has had to add levels to its bleaching alert scale to account for the growing risk of coral death.

Efforts are underway to conserve and restore coral. One Dutch lab has worked with coral fragments, including some taken from off the coast of the Seychelles, to propagate them in a zoo so that they might be used someday to repopulate wild coral reefs if needed. Other projects, including one off Florida, have worked to rescue corals endangered by high heat and nurse them back to health before returning them to the ocean.

But scientists say it's essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet, such as carbon dioxide and methane.

“The best way to protect coral reefs is to address the root cause of climate change. And that means reducing the human emissions that are mostly from burning of fossil fuels ... everything else is looking more like a Band-Aid rather than a solution,” Eakin said.

“I think people really need to recognize what they’re doing ... inaction is the kiss of death for coral reefs,” said Melanie McField, co-chair of the Caribbean Steering Committee for the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, a network of scientists that monitors reefs throughout the world.

The group's update comes as President Donald Trump has moved aggressively in his second term to boost fossil fuels and roll back clean energy programs, which he says is necessary for economic growth.

“We’ve got a government right now that is working very hard to destroy all of these ecosystems ... removing these protections is going to have devastating consequences,” Eakin said.