Indonesian volcano erupts, over 2,700 people evacuated

Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupts, sending ashes three kilometres to the sky as over 2,700 people are evacuated. Reuters
Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupts, sending ashes three kilometres to the sky as over 2,700 people are evacuated.
Reuters

Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupted on Saturday (June 13), sending ashes to to the sky as more than 2,700 people are evacuated.

Saturday’s eruption was the latest round, since the volcano was placed at its highest alert level earlier in June.

Columns of ash spewing as high as three kilometres was seen from a nearby town. Lava spread around one kilometres to the south and east, local media reported.

No casualties were reported as most of the residents near the area were evacuated.

The last village to evacuate was Sukanalu, said regent of Karo, which is located three kilometres from the peak of Sinabung.

“According to the report from head of village of Sukanalu that before the eruption some of the villagers were already evacuated from Sukanalu. But we’re still going to do a research on the actual demography and report the situation to Disaster Management Agency,” Terkelin Brahmana told Metro TV.

Hot ash is still visible a day after the eruption, footage from Indonesia’s TV One showed on Sunday (June 14).

Researcher said the volcanic activity remained high.

“Until now the activity (of volcano) is still high, we detected 47 times of tremors,” said Armen Putra, the head of Sinabung volcano observation station.

Mount Sinabung is one of nearly 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which stands along the “Ring of Fire” volcanic belt around the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

The volcano has become increasingly active in recent years. Over tens of thousands of residents were evacuated since it erupted in February 2014 when it killed 11 people.

Reuters