MEDAN, Indonesia: An Indonesian volcano erupted on Tuesday morning spewing a spectacular column of ash thousands of metres into a powder blue sky.
Vulcanologists recorded 13 separate blasts as Mount Sinabung leapt to life, belching debris up to 16,400 feet above Sumatra.
There was no immediate danger to life or property, authorities said, with a five-kilometre ring around the volcano having been left unoccupied over recent years.
No evacuation orders have been issued, and there has been no reported flight disruption.
But locals are taking no chances.
“The residents are scared, many are staying indoors to avoid the thick volcanic ash,” Roy Bangun, 41, said.
Muhammad Nurul Asrori, a monitoring officer at Sinabung, said Tuesday’s plume of smoke and ash was the largest he had seen since 2010, and warned that it could still get bigger.
“The large lava dome at any time could burst, causing a bigger avalanche of hot clouds,” he said.
Sinabung, a 2,460-metre volcano, was dormant for centuries before roaring back to life in 2010 when an eruption killed two people. — AFP
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