BALI, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Sinabung volcano located in the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted Sunday, sending volcanic ash 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) high into the sky, Indonesian news portal, VIVANews reported.
"Eruptions extended over a distance to 4.5 kilometers [2.1 miles] to the South [from a crater],” the head of BNPB information center Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told VIVANews. But according to Nugroho, no evacuation had to be carried out yet, while those living on volcano's slopes are on alert.
During this year, Sinabung repeatedly threw columns of volcanic ash. In February, 16 people who could not escape the fast-moving current, died.
The volcano on the 8,070 feet-high Mount Sinabung, located near the capital of the North Sumatra province woke up on September 15 last year after a three-year-long break. Past volcanic activities forced about 15,000 people to evacuate their homes. Eventually, the number rose to 25,000 people, the majority later returned to their homes.
Indonesia is a part the so-called Pacific "ring of fire" where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
