The highly active Mount Sinabung in Karo regency, North Sumatra spewed a massive 5-kilometer-high ash column this morning in a series of fresh eruptions that began yesterday.
According to a press release from Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG), Sinabung erupted 37 times on March 1, spewing ash columns measuring up to 1 kilometer high.
The intensity picked up this morning, with the volcano spewing volcanic ash measuring up to 5 kilometers high.
PVMBG said the eruptions were followed by minor tremors in the area. No damages or casualties have been reported, but the agency has urged people to stay away at a radius of 5 kilometers from the volcano’s peak while also wearing masks to prevent inhaling harmful volcanic ash.
PVMBG in May 2019 issued a Level III alert in its four-tier system for Sinabung in anticipation of possible eruptions.
The alert level remains at III following the most recent eruption.
Sinabung’s last major eruption occurred in August 2020, when the volcano spewed massive ash that blanketed nearby settlements.
