Rescuers Evacuate 3,000 Residents Near Indonesia’s Mount Ibu After Eruption

A woman and child look on at volcanic ash rising into the air during the eruption of Mount Ibu, as seen from Duono Village in West Halmahera, North Maluku Province on Jan. 15, 2025. Azzam/AFP via Getty Images

JAKARTA—Authorities have begun evacuating 3,000 residents near the Mount Ibu volcano on Indonesia’s eastern island of Halmahera, the disaster agency said on Thursday, after an eruption this week sent a cloud of thick grey ash as high as 2.5-mile into the sky.

Ibu erupted on Wednesday morning for about two minutes, Indonesia’s volcanology agency said, forcing authorities to raise the alert level in the surrounding areas to the most severe.