Volcano Sinabung in Karo district, North Sumatra, Indonesia, erupted on October 24, spewing a column of smoke as high as 3,000 metres.

According to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of Indonesia’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency, the volcano erupted at around 6am throwing volcanic rock onto the east, south and southeast sides of the volcano.

He said that in order to ensure safety, tourists and local residents are not permitted to come within 2km of the crater.

With a height of 2,475 metres, Sinabung’s seismic activity had increased in the last two weeks, and residents of the three villages hit by the volcanic dust were recommended to temporarily leave the area, said Sutopo.

The country’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency on October 24 also confirmed that the 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Aceh province two days earlier killed one person, injured three others and damaged many facilities.

In December 2004, Aceh suffered from an extreme earthquake and tsunami that killed 170,000 people.-VNA