Mt Sinabung shoots out ash clouds one km into sky

Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA) - Mount Sinabung in Karo district, North Sumatra province, erupted again on Friday afternoon, hurling columns of volcanic ash as far as one kilometer into the sky.

The volcanic ash of Mount Sinabung was clearly visible, chief of the Mount Sinabung observatory post, Armen Putra, said.

The thick, white ash, which shot out of the crater with weak pressure reached a height of 50-100 meters above the crater's summit. The hot clouds were recorded at an amplitude of 38 mm and lasted 143 seconds.

The alert status of the 2,460 meter high volcano has currently been set at level III.

Armen Putra appealed to residents and farmers not to carry out activities in relocated villages within a three-kilometer radius from the volcano's summit, a five-kilometer sectoral radius in the southeast sector, and a four-kilometer radius in the northeast sector.

"The people who reside near rivers whose upper reach is in Mount Sinabung should stay alert for the danger of lava," he said.

Mount Sinabung has repeatedly erupted since 2010, displacing tens of thousands of people in disaster zones.

Last year, early on the morning of August 8, the volcano spewed a two thousand-meter-high ash column. The eruption had affected local residents in the sub-districts of Teran, Berastagi, Simpang 4, and Merdeka.

In November, 2020, the volcano ejected clouds of hot ash for two consecutive days, according to the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG).