Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung Volcano Erupts, Spewing Ash Cloud into the Air and Threatening Flights
Indonesia has raised flight warnings around the Mount Sinabung volcano on Sumatra island to their highest level after it sent a towering plume of ash more than seven kilometers into the air on Monday, its biggest eruption this year.
Areas around the crater of the volcano, located about 1900km northwest of the capital Jakarta, have been off-limits for several years because of frequent volcanic activity.
Mount Sinabung volcano as spews thick volcanic ash into the air in Karo, North Sumatra, on February 19, 2018.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Darwin issued maps on Monday showing an ash cloud heading in three directions from Sinabung, to the north, northwest and south-southeast.
Indonesia also upgraded its Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation to red, its highest warning, and said the ash-cloud top had reached 23,872 feet (7,276 metres), according to a ground observer.
Sinabung sent ash and smoke 5,000 metres into the air, leaving local villages coated in debris and officials scrambling to hand out face masks. Picture