Indonesia's Mount Soputan erupts, spews ash

JAKARTA: Mount Soputan, in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, erupted on Sunday, spewing volcanic ash up to four kilometres into the sky.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said the volcano erupted at 11.38am (0338 GMT) and raised its status to standby.
"Villagers are banned to enter areas within [a] 6.5-kilometre radius from the crater," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
There was no minor eruption following the 11.38am activity, but the volcano has been showing signs of increased volcanic activity since Wednesday.
Spewed ash was being blown to the south-west Mount Soputan erupted twice on Jan 6 and has been showing increased activity since then.
There were no reports of casualties. – dpa