Highlights:
- Sinabung volcano erupts in Karo, Indonesia
- A tower of ash has covered the sky
- Authorities have advised the villagers to stay at least 5 kilometres away from the mouth of the crater
- Around 30,000 people have been forced to evacuate
The great Mount Sinabung of Sumatra Island in Indonesia has erupted on Monday and a huge column of volcanic ash and other particles have been spewed as high as 5000 metres or 16,600 feet into the sky.
As of now no fatalities or injuries has been reported from the eruption as per the information shared by Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center of Indonesia.
Having said this, the villages have been asked to stay at least 5 kilometres away from the mouth of the crater and should be cautious of the lava, the agency said.
Around 30,000 people have been forced to vacate their homes from around the mountains in the fast few hours.
A thick layer of ash has covered villages around 20 kilometres from the crater according to Armen Putra who is an official at the Mount Sinabung observation post.
Just when you thought 2020 is done with disasters… Here is another, Sinabung volcano in Indonesia just erupted! pic.twitter.com/uwSVzzh9Pe
— TheSpaceAcademy.org✨? (@ThespaceAcad) August 10, 2020
Another wild video of mount Sinabung ash cloud in #Sumarta Indonesia.. 2020 on a Sunday has no chill, just blowing off #Volcano|s.. ???? pic.twitter.com/8I0vUq0eto
— Simulation Warlord?? (@zerosum24) August 10, 2020
According to a video the ash has become so dense that it is now blocking the Sun.
It's noon in Indonesia, that's the ash from Sinabung volcano blocking the sunlight. pic.twitter.com/HlDrFzmeUb
— Manuel Ruiz (@mozzaic_) August 10, 2020
The volcano, which is one of the two currently erupting in Indonesia, had been dormant for around 400 years before erupting earlier in 2010, where it killed two people. Another eruption happened in 2014 where 16 people killed, while seven people lost their lives in the 2016 eruption. Sinabung is amongst over 120 active volcanos in Indonesia alone, and it is prone to seismic activities give its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” which is an arc of volcanoes and fault lines surrounding the Pacific Basin.
