Mount Sinabung on highest alert status after 9 powerful eruptions in one day, Indonesia

Indonesian Mount Sinabung volcano was dormant before awakening in August 2010. The latest series of eruptions started on September 15, 2013, when at least 3 000 people were evacuated.

As of Saturday, November 23, 2013, the activity is on the rise again. 9 strong explosions were registered in last 24 hours. The biggest one was on the morning of November 24th (local time) when resulting ash plume rose to 7.5 km (25 000 ft) and drifted 60 nautical miles to the NW.

As of today, more than 6 000 people are evacuated but no casualties have been reported. The exclusion zone was extended from 3 to 5 km, which implies that about 10 000 additional people should be evacuated.

Frequent eruptions have been causing severe ash fall in nearby villages where lapilli of up to 0.5 – 1 cm in size have fallen, VolcanoDIscovery reports. In Medan city, 50 km to the NE, ash fall caused disruptions of traffic as visibility was reduced to 20 meters.

The aviation color code (red) and alert status (4 out of 4) of the volcano are now on their highest levels.

Featured image: Earth Observatory