Eruption Is Largest Yet for Rumbling Sumatran Volcano

(Sept. 7) -- A volcano in Indonesia shot black ash three miles high today, its biggest eruption since waking up last week after being dormant for some 400 years.

Lava, rock and ash streamed into the night sky from Mount Sinabung on the island of Sumatra just after midnight, Agence France-Presse reported. The eruption, which shook the ground for several minutes, could be felt about five miles away, the news agency reported.

"There was a huge, thunderous sound. It sounded like hundreds of bombs going off," Ita Sitepu, 29, told The Associated Press. "Then everything starting shaking. I've never experienced anything like it."

Experts said it was the most violent eruption since the volcano came back to life on Aug. 29, killing two people as it rained ash and debris, after remaining silent since the 1600s.

"It was the biggest eruption yet," Indonesia's chief vulcanologist, Surono, told Reuters. "I think this will not be the last eruption," said Surono, who like many Indonesians uses one name. "It will happen again."

Witnesses said ash and mud went down the sides of the mountain and into abandoned homes, while others saw fire and hot ash, the AP reported. Trees and plants were covered with a thick layer of ash, the AP said, and ash landed as far as 15 miles away from the base of the mountain.

Some 20,000 to 30,000 people have fled their homes for emergency shelters, churches and mosques since the August eruption, according to reports. On Monday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono went to the area and asked for patience.

"Sinabung is very active with a series of eruptions," he said, AFP reported. "For your safety, please stay in the shelter for the time being. ... I hope it will not last very long."

The threat of more volcanic activity had residents concerned. "I'm worried about my future," Anto Sembiring, 37, told AFP. "The volcano seems unwilling to stay calm."

His family fled, but he stayed behind to take care of the house.

"My children haven't gone to school for almost two weeks, and they have to stay in the crowded shelter in unhealthy conditions," he told the news agency.

Indonesia, a sprawling island chain, has many active volcanoes and is in the "Ring of Fire," a group of fault lines that reach from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia. Indonesia has had some of history's largest volcanic eruptions.

An 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora killed an estimated 80,000 people, according to the AP, and an 1883 eruption of Krakatoa killed some 36,000 people in the blast and subsequent tsunami.