Improved weather conditions on Monday allowed rescuers to resume evacuation efforts and a search for possible victims after the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island erupted, triggered by monsoon rains.

Mount Semeru in Lumajang district in East Java province spewed thick columns of ash more than 1,500 metres (nearly 5,000 feet) into the sky on Sunday. Villages and nearby towns were blanketed with falling ash, blocking out the sun, but no casualties have been reported.