JAKARTA: Thousands of residents in Indonesia's East Java were on high alert on Monday after a violent eruption at the island's tallest volcano prompted authorities to impose an 8-kilometre no-go zone and forced evacuations of entire villages.
The provincial search and rescue agency deployed teams to the worst-affected areas near Mount Semeru to assess damage, with low rainfall giving some reprieve, Tholib Vatelehan, a Basarnas spokesperson, told Reuters.
