A volcano in western Indonesia erupted, sending a column of ash some 3,000 metres high, prompting authorities to issue a warning.
"The observed ash column is grey, quite dense and tilted to the east," said Hendra Gunawan, head of the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
Mount Marapi erupted in January. Photo: Antara News
The 2,891-meter-tall Marapi volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island erupted at 2:54 a.m. on December 3. There have been no reports of casualties so far. Authorities have issued a level three alert on a four-point scale and established a blockade around the mountain.
"Communities around Marapi volcano and tourists are not allowed within a 3 km radius of the crater," Gunawan said.
According to Ahmad Rifandi, an official at the Marapi mountain monitoring station, they also recorded ash rain in the area after the eruption.
“The ash shower has reached Bukittinggi city,” he said, referring to West Sumatra’s third-largest city with a population of more than 100,000. “Hopefully people near Mount Marapi will wear hats, glasses and masks.”
Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and the Pacific basin. The Southeast Asian nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes. Marapi is the most active volcano on the island of Sumatra.
In May, Indonesia's most active volcano, Mount Merapi, on the island of Java, spewed lava within a two-kilometer radius of its crater.
Vu Hoang (According to AFP )
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