East Indonesian Volcano Spews Lava

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A rumbling volcano in eastern Indonesia spewed ash and lava Thursday, as authorities expressed fears that a shift in winds could send hot clouds of volcanic debris onto villages below.

Thousands of people have been evacuated and others have been told to stay away from the five-mile danger zone along the mountain’s slopes, said Saut Simatupang of the government’s volcano monitoring agency.

Mount Gamkonora, located on Halmahera island, has been on the highest alert since Monday, and lava and debris have spilled from its mouth for days. Hot clouds of ash were shooting more than 3,000 feet into the sky on Thursday, a slight decrease in activity.

Authorities are worried that potential shifts in wind could send the debris over villages along the western flank of the 5,364-foot peak.

"That is our main concern right now," said Simatupang, adding that a large eruption within the next few days was still possible.

Researchers were trying to calculate the possible speed and trajectory of the hot clouds.

Mount Gamkonora lies 1,500 miles northeast of the country’s capital, Jakarta.

Indonesia has more active volcanoes than any other nation because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" – a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.