Indonesia's Sinabung volcano spews new burst of hot ash

 A rumbling volca in western Indonesia on Sunday unleashed an avalanche of scorching clouds down its slopes.

Authorities are closely monitoring Mount Sinabung on Sumatra, one of Indonesia’s main islands, after sensors picked up increasing activity in past weeks.

volca in rth Sumatra province was shooting smoke and ash more than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) into air on Sunday morning, and hot ash clouds traveled 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) souast, Indonesia’s Volcalogy and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center said.

Villrs were vised to stay 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from crater’s mouth and should be aware of peril of lava, ncy said. Air travel was t impacted by ash so far, Transport Ministry said.

re were casualties from eruption, said Armen Putra, an official at Sinabung monitoring post. He said vills outside red zone were t in immediate danger.

Some 30,000 people have been forced to leave homes around Sinabung in past few years.

2,600-metre (8,530-feet) Sinabung was dormant for four centuries before exploding in 2010, killing two people. Ar eruption in 2014 killed 17 people, while seven died in a 2016 eruption.

volca, one of two currently erupting in Indonesia, has sporically come to life since n.

Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcaes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcaes and fault lines encircling Pacific Basin.