Ruang

Ruang seen from the island of Tahulandang

The Ruang is the southernmost active volcano in the arc of the Sangihe Islands, Indonesia. The layer volcano rises 1,700 meters above the seabed; the peak with a height of 725 meters above sea level is located east of the crater with a diameter of about 500 meters. The volcanic island is almost five kilometers long and four kilometers wide.

The first eruption of Ruang in historical time took place in 1808. When an eruption in 1870, a village on the island was destroyed, an unknown number of people died. 1871 sparked an outbreak of a tsunami that killed about 400 people on the neighboring island Tahulandang. On Ruang the plantations were destroyed on the slopes of the volcano. In 1949, a lava dome formed in the crater.

In a severe outbreak on September 25, 2002 about 20 kilometers high eruption column rose to. A pyroclastic flow devastated an area of ​​1.6 square kilometers in the southeast of the island. In two villages buildings were severely damaged by heavy ash fall. About 1000 islanders were evacuated before the eruption.