JAKARTA 19 Feb (ANA) - Indonesia on Monday raised flight warnings around the Mount Sinabung volcano on Sumatra island to their highest level after it sent a towering plume of ash more than 7 kilometres (4.4 miles) into the air, its biggest eruption this year.

 

Areas around the crater of the volcano, located about 1,900 km (1,181 miles) northwest of the capital, Jakarta, have been off-limits for several years because of frequent volcanic activity.  The Bureau of Meteorology’s Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VACC), in Australia’s northern city of Darwin, issued maps on Monday showing an ash cloud heading in three directions from Sinabung, to the north, northwest and south-southeast.

 

 

Indonesia also upgraded its Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) to red, its highest warning, and said the ash-cloud top had reached 23,872 feet (7,276 metres), according to a ground observer.  Sinabung is about 75 km (47 miles) southwest of Kualanamu International Airport in Medan.(ANA)

FA/ANA/19 February 2018---------