Jakarta, Jan 11 (IANS) Mount Sinabung, a volcano in Indonesia's North Sumatra province, erupted 24 times Friday, shooting a column of ash about 4,000 metres to the sky and forcing further evacuation, an official said.
Powerful burst of ash spread from the crater of rumbling volcano, located in Karo district, reported Xinhua citing Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesperson of national disaster management agency.
The 2,457-metre Mount Sinabung has rumbled to life since September after being dormant for 400 years. It has erupted on and off since then, but went into overdrive frequently in November and December.
The hot ash slid off to the southeast, scaling up the number of people fleeing the eruption to 24,949 Friday from 22,708 a few days ago, the official added. "It is expected that the volcano is going to persist eruption in days to come."
Evacuation zone has been declared at 7 kilometre from the crater of the volcano, the official said, adding the authorities will proceed to send emergency relief aids to affected-areas.
The Mount Sinabung is among the 129 active volcanoes in the vast archipelago country, which is prone to seismic upheaval as it lays on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" encircling the Pacific Ocean.
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