“On the island of Java, Indonesia, the eruption of the Merapi volcano began: a cloud of smoke up to 7 km high rose into the sky, lava flows spread over 1.5 km. Residents have not yet been evacuated (…)”. On social networks, many Internet users are warning about one of the most active volcanoes in the world. A video of a volcano spewing thick white and gray smoke accompanies these posts.
The Indonesian volcano indeed erupted on Saturday. No casualties were immediately reported, the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said. Authorities established a 7 km restriction zone around the crater after the eruption. Residents of the surrounding area should also expect “disturbances” due to the ashes.
FAKE OFF
In reality, these videos do not show the current eruption of the volcano in Indonesia. A reverse image search indicates that the video is from February 2018. It is of the Sinabung eruption, in the same country.
The original post is a video posted on February 19, 2018: “Mount Sinabung in Karo Regency, North Sumatra erupted again on Monday morning. The volcano erupted at 8:35 a.m. local time. As a result of the eruption, volcanic ash sprang up to a height of 5 kilometers,” it read.
This particular sequence was published on the Sutopo Purwo Nugroho Official Twitter Account. He died on July 7, 2019, and was the spokesperson for Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency as of the video’s release date.
“The great eruption of Mount Sinabung. The height of the column can reach 5 km accompanied by warm clouds up to 4.9 km. Sound rumblings. This is the first time an eruption has been accompanied by a roar since 2014-2018. There were no casualties. All the inhabitants of the red zone have long since been evacuated,” he explained at the time.
Indonesia is populated by volcanoes and many eruptions take place. Mount Sinabung woke up in 2010 after 400 years of sleep. After a period of calm, a new eruption occurred in 2013 and it has been very active since. 16 people died in 2014 and 7 in 2016. Finally, in December 2018, more than 400 people died when a tsunami, caused by a volcanic eruption, suddenly swept over the coasts of Sumatra and the western end of Java.