Mount Sinabung erupts, ash column rises 3.5 km east-southeast
Authorities barred activity within a 3 km radius and a 4.5 km sector to the south-southeast, and warned of lahar in river channels.
Mount Sinabung in Karo Regency, North Sumatra, erupted on Monday at about 10:17 WIB, sending an ash column about 3,500 meters above the summit. Thick black ash was observed drifting east and southeast, and material was still emerging from the crater at about 11:14 WIB. Armen Putra, head of the Mount Sinabung observation post, said the eruption was recorded on the seismogram with a maximum amplitude of 120 millimeters and a temporary duration of about 1 hour 1 minute 48 seconds. The volcano remained at Level II, or Waspada. PVMBG asked residents, visitors and tourists not to carry out activities in relocation villages, within a 3-kilometer radius of the summit, or within a 4.5-kilometer sector to the south-southeast. Residents in river channels originating from Sinabung were also urged to watch for possible lahar.