Jakarta, Feb 26 (IANS): Mount Marapi in Indonesia's West Sumatra province erupted Wednesday, shooting ash to the sky and incurring a downpour of ash and volcanic sand up to 10 km to the south of the crater, an official said.

Powerful bursts of ash, sand and gravel erupted from the volcano located in Tanah Datar and Agam districts at 4.15 p.m. Jakarta time, Warseno, the official in-charge at the observatory post of the volcano, told Xinhua.

However, the height of the column could not be determined visually as visibility was impaired by haze enveloping West Sumatra due to forest fire in the neighbouring province of Riau, he added.

The authorities have closed the area within a three-km danger zone from the crater as the volcano is on third-highest alert level, he said.

So far, the authorities have not recommended any evacuation.

Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra and Mount Kelud in East Java, two most active volcanoes in the country, erupted earlier this month, claiming 24 lives and displacing over 160,000 people.

Mount Marapi is among 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia.