Lightning strikes erupting Indonesia volcano spewing 16,000-foot ash cloud

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A volcano in Indonesia erupted last week, leaving locals to maneuver around molten lava and layers of ash, according to reports.

Roy Bangun, 41, said: "The residents are scared, many are staying indoors to avoid the thick volcanic ash."

Last Tuesday, Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province sent volcanic materials as high as 16,400 feet into the sky and deposited ash on nearby villages.

Authorities recorded at least 13 times when it released ash clouds.

There had been no fresh evacuations due to the activity and no reports of disruptions to flights in the region.

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The 8,530-feet Sinabung was dormant for four centuries before erupting in 2010, killing two people. Another eruption in 2014 killed 17 people, while seven died in a 2016 eruption.

The long-time exposure photo taken on March 5, 2021 shows lightning striking near Mount Sinabung with white smoke being spewed in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia. (Photo by Sarianto Sembiring/Xinhua via Getty) ​​​​​

The volcano, one of two currently erupting in Indonesia, has sporadically come to life since then.

Muhammad Nurul Asrori, a Sinabung monitoring officer, said Tuesday's volcanic debris was the largest he had seen since 2010.

"The large lava dome at any time could burst, causing a bigger avalanche of hot clouds," he said.

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Some 30,000 people have been forced to leave homes around Sinabung in the past few years.

Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is located on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.