MEDAN, Indonesia – The rubble of Mount Sinabung in Indonesia erupted Monday, sending a column of volcanic material up to 16,400 feet into the air and dumping ashes on villages.
It is the second eruption since Saturday after the volcano sat dormant for more than a year.
Falling gravel and ash collect up to 2 inches in already abandoned villages on the slopes of the volcano, said Armen Putra, an official at the Sinabung surveillance post on Sumatra Island.
“The sound was like thunder, it lasted less than 30 seconds,” resident Fachrur Rozi Pasi told Reuters by phone.
Right away in Berastagi, a town of tourist destination in the province of North Sumatra, about 12.4 kilometers from the crater, motorists turn on headlights in daylight to see through the ashes.
Videos and photos on social media showed people wearing masks when they were outside.
There were no deaths or injuries from the eruption, said the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center of Indonesia.
Villages are advised to stay 3.1 kilometers from the mouth of the crater and should be aware of the danger of lava, the agency said. Air travel has so far not been affected by the ash, the transport ministry said.
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Some 30,000 people have been forced to leave houses around Sinabung in recent years.
The volcano, one of two currently erupting in Indonesia, was dormant for four centuries before exploding in 2010, killing two people. Another eruption in 2014 killed 16 people, while seven died in a 2016 eruption.
Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is envious of seismic conditions due to its location on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin.
Reuters contributed to this report.
