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Indonesian authorities have closed access to a national park on Java Island as firefighters battle a wildfire raging there for nearly a week. The blaze has razed 176 hectares (435 acres) since it broke out last Monday in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, near the popular East Java tourist destination of Mount Bromo, a disaster official said. Authorities barred access to visitors late Saturday until further notice. No injuries or property destruction have been reported, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari. Two water-bombing helicopters have been deployed to douse the flames in areas difficult for firefighters to reach due to steep slopes and strong winds, he said in a statement Sunday. “These conditions make air operations important to reach areas that cannot be accessed optimally by land,” the official said. A blaze destroyed more than 500 hectares of land on Mount Bromo in 2023 when a couple lit a flare during a pre-wedding photo shoot. Indonesia is projected to experience a more intense and prolonged dry season this year, raising the risk of wildfires and drought, due in part to the El Nino weather phenomenon, weather agency BMKG said. More than 107,000 hectares of land burned in Indonesia in the first half of this year, over twice the area destroyed in wildfires in 2023. El Nino is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that brings worldwide changes in winds, air pressure and rainfall patterns. It usually causes drier conditions in Southeast Asia and India. 

A woman buys dates near the Sunan Ampel Mosque during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Surabaya, Indonesia's East Java province, Sunday.  

 An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale struck East Java province in Indonesia on Monday.The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said that the earthquake was at a depth of 10 km.Indonesia is regularly exposed to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where many tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activity. 

A volcano on Indonesia's main island of Java erupted Wednesday, throwing ash and gas kilometres into the sky and forcing officials to raise the alert status to its highest level. Mount Semeru in eastern Java, about 310kms west of the tourist hotspot of Bali, erupted at 2.13pm local time (0713 GMT), spewing what are known as pyroclastic flows, Indonesian geological agency head Muhammad Wafid said."The public is advised not to engage in activities within an 8km radius of the crater or peak of Mount Semeru due to the risk of being struck by ejected rocks," he said in a statement. The national disaster agency said the plume of ash had risen as far as 13kms into the air.

A landslide on Indonesia’s Java island has killed at least 11 people, an official said Saturday, updating a previous tally as rescuers scrambled to find 12 others who are still missing. The landslide, caused by heavy rainfall, hit three villages in Central Java province on Thursday, burying some houses and damaging others.“As of Saturday afternoon, the number of victims who were found dead is 11, while 12 more are still being searched for,” local search and rescue chief Muhammad Abdullah told AFP. More than 700 personnel from the search and rescue office, military and police as well as volunteers were involved in the operation. A spokesman for the national disaster agency had previously reported that two bodies were found on Thursday. Another was recovered on Friday and eight more on Saturday, according to Abdullah.The government has deployed excavators and tracking dogs to assist the search. The national weather service had warned earlier this week of extreme conditions that could cause hydrometeorological disasters, with heavy rainfall expected across several regions on Indonesia in the coming weeks. The annual monsoon season, typically between November and April, often brings landslides, flash floods and water-borne diseases. Climate change has impacted storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, resulting in heavier rainfall, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts. Earlier in November, flash floods and landslides in a remote area of Papua killed at least 15 people.