Jakarta:
A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted Sunday morning, spewing an ash tower more than two miles into the sky and prompting officials to warn people to stay away.
Mount Ibu, located on Halmahera island in North Maluku province, erupted at 12:37 a.m. (1537 GMT Saturday), sending a thick column of dark smoke and ash west of the summit.
The eruption lasted more than three minutes and the ash towered 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) above the summit, Mount Ibu monitoring station official Axl Roeroe said in a statement on Sunday.
“Residents and tourists in the vicinity of Mount Ibu: please do not carry out any activity within a radius of two kilometers (from the crater),” he said.
The alert level for the 1,325-meter-high volcano remained at two levels on the four-level system and there was no evacuation order after the eruption.
But authorities urged people to wear face masks and goggles for outdoor activities and to anticipate falling volcanic ash.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago, regularly experiences seismic and volcanic activity due to its location on the “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific Ocean.
Earlier this month, Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi erupted, forcing thousands of people to evacuate.
Sam Ratulangi International Airport in the city of Manado, more than 100 kilometers from the crater, was also closed for days.
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