Volcano erupts in Indonesia's North Sumatra

JAKARTA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Sinabung volcano in Indonesia's North Sumatra province erupted on Monday, spewing hot clouds, an official monitoring the volcano said.

Head of Sinabung volcano monitoring post Armen Putra said the latest eruption took place on 13:02 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB), coupled with 303 seconds of tremors around the area.

"Hot clouds were seen rising 2,500 meters to the east-southeast and 3,500 meters to the south," Armed said.

He added the post was hardly able to see the column of smoke and ashes from the eruption as the volcano summit was engulfed by thick haze. The wind blew mildly during the eruption, bringing the ashes to the west-south direction, he added.

People were advised to stay away from areas declared red zones around the volcano as more eruptions were expected to take place in the near future, he said.

People were also told to be remain alert for possible flood of cold lava from the volcano amid the intensifying rains nowadays.

Indonesian authorities imposed highest alert of level 4 in the volcano, which has yet to be reviewed since 2013 when it began its eruptions.

The last eruption prior to the Monday's eruption took place on Nov. 29, blasted column of volcanic ashes and hot clouds.

Over 2,000 people were displaced from the ongoing Sinabung volcanic activities. Enditem