Indonesia's disruptive Mount Lokon erupted Sunday afternoon spewing lava and ash, causing officials to issue a warning to residents to limit outdoor activity, CNN reported.
According to Sutupo Purwo Nugroho of Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Board, a monitoring post recorded loud, pounding sounds 3.8 miles (6 kilometers) from Mount Lokon around 2:05 p.m. (2:05 a.m. ET) on Sunday. The volcano continued to have many separate eruptions, reported CNN.
"Righ now, there are still eruptions, but they could not be observed as the volcano is covered by haze," Nugroho said.
Nugroho told reporters that people living 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) from the volcano were asked to limit outdoor activity. Local monitoring official Farid Ruskanda Bina told The Associated Press that soldiers were distributing masks to villagers and that there were no plans for evacuation.
According to CNN, the volcano, which has been active since last Friday, is located in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province. The volcano, which's eruptions have spouted ash 1,500 meters into the air, forced officials to categorize it as on alert, CNN reported.
Mount Lokon is part of twin volcanic peaks 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) apart in northeast Indonesia and is one of the most active volcanoes in the area, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Global Volcanism Program. Indonesia lies on the "Ring of Fire," a series of fault lines that circle the Pacific Basin and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Mount Lokon has remained relatively active within the past year. CNN reported that in February, the volcano spewed ash 2 kilometers into the sky and in July 2011 forced the evacuation of over 4,000 locals after a series of eruptions.
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