A massive column of smoke and ash shot nearly 10 miles into the sky above Sumatra Monday morning as Mount Sinabung, one of three currently active volcanos in Indonesia, began erupting.
It’s the latest rumble in what’s already been a very rowdy couple of months along the Ring of Fire, the geological region that follows the 25,000-mile perimeter of the Pacific Ocean and is home to 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes.
See video HERE
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Australia warned aircraft to divert away from Sumatra, but noted that satellite imagery shows that much of the ash has already dissipated.
Mount Sinabung has a tragic history, with deadly eruptions in 2010, 2014, and 2016. More than 30,000 people have left the area in recent years due to the volcano. No fatalities or injuries were reported after Monday’s eruption.
Over in the Philippines, Mount Mayon, which began erupting on January 13 and forced 75,000 to flee, saw another eruption of ash and lava on Monday.
Mount Kusatsu-Shirane, 100 miles northwest of Tokyo, also erupted in January, leaving one soldier dead in an avalanche and injured a dozen at a ski resort. Indonesia’s Mount Agung, which has been spewing ash since November, also had four distinct eruptions.
And then there are the earthquakes. A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck southern Mexico on Monday, following a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in the region last Friday. Across the ocean, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake shook Taiwan Monday morning.
About Author
