Sumatra’s most active volcano erupts, sending ash 3 kilometers high

A plume visible for miles around. The most active volcano on the island of Sumatra, in western Indonesia, erupted on Sunday December 3. A column of ash was projected three kilometers high into the sky, according to the Indonesian Center for Vulcanology and Geological Hazards.

The eruption, which began at 2:54 p.m. local time (8:54 a.m. Paris time), is still ongoing and has so far caused no casualties or damage. “Neither people who live around the volcano nor tourists are allowed to enter a three-kilometer radius around the crater”, added the center. A manager at the Mount Marapi monitoring station advises residents of surrounding towns who have to go out to wear “hats, glasses and masks”.

Marapi, 2,891 meters high and whose name means “the mountain of fire”, is currently at the third alert level on a scale of four. Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes significant volcanic and seismic activity. The country has nearly 130 active volcanoes.