Jakarta, Aug 18 (IANS): Mount Lokon, an active volcano in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, has erupted, forcing people living near the volcano to evacuate, a media report said.
The eruption took place Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.
Surono, head of Vulcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation at the energy and mineral resources ministry, said: "Since the volcano was blanketed by fog, the escalation of the explosion was not visible."
He said the sound of the eruption was clearly heard by people living around the volcano, which spewed ashes on the surrounding areas.
"The explosion sound was heard in at a volcano monitoring post located five km away. Rain of volcanic ashes was reported up to three km away from the crater," Surono said.
A total of 273 people living around the volcano have been evacuated to safer places.