Indonesia's Ibu volcano erupts twice, spewing red-hot lava

JAKARTA: Indonesia's Mount Ibu volcano erupted again on Thursday, firing red bright lava and rocks into the night sky and triggering a spectacular display of volcanic lightning, the country's volcanology agency PVMBG said.

The 1,325 metre-high (4,347 ft) volcano on the eastern island of Halmahera erupted twice on Thursday, Heruningtyas Desi Purnamasari an official at PVMBG told Reuters.

The first eruption was at 1:30 a.m. local time, spewing incandescent lava and rocks as lightning flashes lit up its crater, PVMBG footage showed.

The second eruption was at 7:46 a.m local time for two minutes, shooting volcanic ash as high as 1,200m (4,000 feet). Clouds of grey ash billowed into the sky from the crater, images from PVMBG showed.

"The alert status of the volcano is still level four or the highest," Heruningtyas said.

The agency banned any activities within 7 km (4 miles) of the crater.

Thursday's volcanic activity was the latest in a series of eruption since May. Ibu volcano also erupted on Tuesday, spewing 5 km (3 miles) columns of grey ash into the sky.

Authorities have evacuated seven villages nearby since May 16 but no new evacuation planned after the latest eruption.

Indonesia sits on the geologically active Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has 127 active volcanoes.

Last month, the eruption of Ruang volcano in North Sulawesi province forced the evacuation of more than 12,000 people.

At least 60 people were killed last month during flash floods and cold lava flows from Mount Marapi, one of the most active volcanoes in West Sumatra province.