August 10, 2013 Eruption of Paluweh

Reference #2432:

According to news articles, a partial lava-dome collapse at Paluweh on 10 August generated a pyroclastic flow that traveled N towards a beach village and killed at least 5 people. A volcanologist at the monitoring post for Paluweh noted that the eruption lasted seven minutes, and that the pyroclastic flow burned trees around the beach and villages, making it difficult to reach the victims. Pyroclastic flows continued to be reported hours after the initial eruption. Based on analyses of satellite imagery and wind data, the Darwin VAAC reported that an ash plume rose to an altitude of 4.3 km (14,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted 130 km W.

News sources noted that a mandatory evacuation order had caused some residents to evacuate prior to the eruption on 10 August, but nearly 10,000 still remained on the island. After the eruption, a rescue team was sent to evacuate about 2,000 people that remained inside a 3-km exclusion zone. A team member noted that rescuing people was difficult since they were reluctant to leave their livestock and homes, but also that the ground was hot and covered in 10-20 cm of ash. The VAAC reported that during 11-12 August ash plumes rose to an altitude of 1.8 km (6,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted 110-130 km W. A news article noted that the eruptions were smaller on 12 August, but pyroclastic flows continued to be observed. The Alert Level remained at 3 (on a scale of 0-4).