Indonesia’s Marapi volcano erupts, spewing ash and hot clouds

Padang, Indonesia:One of Indonesia s most active volcanoes erupted Sunday, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and blanketing villages w...

Padang, Indonesia: One of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes erupted Sunday, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and blanketing villages with debris, but no casualties were reported.

Mount Marapi, in Agam district of the province of West Sumatra, is known for sudden eruptions that are difficult to predict because they are not caused by a deep movement of magma, which sets off tremors that register on seismic monitors.

It unleashed hot ash clouds that spread for several miles, covering nearby villages and towns with thick volcanic residue, said Ahmad Rifandi, an official with Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center at the Marapi monitoring post. It also shot ash columns as high as 2,000 meters (6,560 feet).

Rifandi said the nearly 2,900-meter (9,480-foot) volcano has stayed at the second highest of four alert levels since January, prohibiting climbers and villagers within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the crater’s mouth because of potential lava.

Marapi erupted in December 2023, killing 24 climbers and injuring several others who were caught by its sudden weekend eruption. Two climbing routes in the mountain have been closed since then.