Ruang volcano erupts with fierce lightning storm, blazes nearby school

Over 3,500 earthquakes preceded a spectacular eruption of the Ruang Volcano in Indonesia, which sent lava flying into nearby towns, prompting evacuations.

Indonesia's Ruang volcano erupted on Tuesday with a blaze of lightning and lava. This explosion is the latest of six major eruptions, the last just over three weeks ago, and the source of more than 3,500 earthquakes this month, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.

Tuesday's eruption lofted lava and embers onto nearby Tagulandang Island, setting the middle school on fire. Most of the island's 12,000 residents were already under an evacuation notice.

Videos of the eruption showed plentiful volcanic lightning, which is more frequent and fleeting than lightning strikes occurring in a thunderstorm. Before the eruption was complete, more than 16,000 lightning strikes had been detected around Ruang.

The eruption was captured by Japan's Himawari weather satellite, showing an explosion in ash and sulfur dioxide emanating from the eruption.

There are fears that the volcano's eruptions could alter the weather or climate. Prior to this month's eruptions, the last eruption of Mount Ruang was in September 2022.