A large collapse of the active lava dome generated a massive pyroclastic flow this morning, that traveled about 5 km and generated a huge ash cloud that also rose about 5 km above the volcano.
During January to March 1, 2021, the volcano observatory had registered 37 explosive eruptions, resulting in ash columns reaching up to 1000 m from the summit of the volcano. Small to medium pyroclastic flows (avalanches of hot material caused by collapses on the unstable flanks of the dome) had been reaching distances of 1500-2500 meters from the summit towards the east, southeast and south.
However, this morning’s event far surpassed anything observed at the volcano in recent years: starting at 06:42 local time, a series of collapse events triggered hot avalanches that traveled 2000 to 5000 m to the southeast and east, with ash columns rising 4000 to 5000 m from the body of the hot avalanche cloud (known as phoenix clouds). Until 08:20 local time, the volcano observatory reported a total of 13 such pyroclastic flows.
Fortunately, there are no reports of fatalities or injuries – the affected areas all have been devastated by earlier events in the past years since the reawakening of the volcano in 2013.
Impressive photos of the events can be found all over the web, especially social media like Twitter:
Mount sinabung pic.twitter.com/yX9hJVaRC3
— asean news (@Southeast_news) March 2, 2021
