Mount Sinabunga in Indonesia throws a tower of smoke and ashes into the sky

Mount Sinabunga in Indonesia erupted on Monday, launching a huge column of ash and smoke 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) and letting local communities into the dark with a thick layer of debris.

The volcano on the island of Sumatra has been roaring since 2010 and in 2016 experienced a deadly eruption.

Activity has increased in recent days, including a couple of small weekend eruptions.

No injuries or deaths have been reported in the explosions on Monday morning, but authorities have warned of possible lava flows and further eruptions.

“This is a warning to all of us to avoid areas in the red zone near Sinabunga,” said Armen Putera, a local official at Indonesia’s Geological and Volcanological Hazard Reduction Center.

However, the crater alert remained at the second highest level.

No one lives in the previously declared restricted area around the volcano.

Nearby small communities were covered in a thick layer of ash as at least one village walked from day to night in minutes.

“It was like magic: when the ashes arrived, it went from very bright to dark as night,” said Rencana Sitepu, Namanteran village leader, adding that the rain had destroyed some of the community’s crops. . The robbers hit the Mag Mile,

“The village was dark for about 20 minutes.”

Mount Sinabung emits ash and smoke into the air
The coronavirus pandemic is complicated by the breach of safety by frightened populations.

“Locals gathered after the eruption without wearing face masks because they were in a panic,” said Nanaana Perangin-angin, head of the local disaster agency.

For the first time in 400 years, Sinabung lived in 2010. After another period of inactivity, it exploded again in 2013 and has been very active ever since.

In 2016, one of the eruptions killed seven people, but in 2014 – 16.

At the end of 2018, a volcano erupted in a strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, causing an underwater landslide and a tsunami that killed more than 400 people.

Indonesia is home to about 130 active volcanoes, thanks to its location in the “Ring of Fire” – the border of tectonic plates in the border that surrounds the Pacific Ocean, where frequent seismic activity takes place.