Sinabung erupts sending ash plume to about 9 km altitude, Indonesia

Another strong explosion occurred this morning at Indonesian Sinabung volcano. Ash plume was sent to about 9 km (30 000 ft) altitude, according to Darwin VAAC, and drifted westward. The aviation alert level was raised to red.

Latest Darwin VAAC advisory, issued at 21:19 UTC on November 18, 2013 said that low level plume is still visible on webcam. High level plume was last observed at 06:30 UTC.

Video courtesy Volcano Discovery

Indonesian Merapi volcano (Central Java) had relatively strong explosion on November 17, producing a large ash plume of about 2 km height and accompanied by loud rumblings, Volcano Discovery reports. Ash fell to the south and east sides of the volcano, as far as Solo (30 km distance). According to local press, many people spontaneously evacuated their homes in several villages near the volcano.

Sinabung (Sumatra) is a Pleistocene-to-Holocene stratovolcano with many lava flows on its flanks. The migration of summit vents along a N-S line gives the summit crater complex an elongated form. The youngest crater of this conical, 2460-m-high andesitic-to-dacitic volcano is at the southern end of the four overlapping summit craters.

An unconfirmed eruption was noted in 1881, and solfataric activity was seen at the summit and upper flanks of Sinabung in 1912. No confirmed historical eruptions were recorded prior to explosive eruptions during August-September 2010 that produced ash plumes to 5 km above the summit (GVP).

Featured image: VSI