Indonesia is in the midst of an especially volatile five days during a particularly mercurial past four months. Two volcanoes erupted more than three times over the last five days.
After the most recently active volcano in Indonesia, Mt. Sinabung, erupted for the fourth time in three months on Nov. 14, it exploded again on Monday -- just hours after the eruption of the most active volcano in the country, Mt. Merapi, The Associated Press reported.
Thursday's blast at Sinabung shot volcanic ash 7,000 feet in the air and was followed by subsequent eruptions and flowing lava over the last few days, The AP reported. Ten nearby villages evacuated, as they've been doing for the past three months during Sinabung's reign.
"We have run out of supplies. We don't know when the eruptions will stop so that evacuees can return to their homes," Karo regency administration spokesman Jhonson Tarigan told The AP. Villagers stay in shelters during evacuations.
The eruption at Mt. Merapi, in the Yogyakarta province (far away from Mt. Sinabung), was slightly less severe, according to The AP. Volcanic discharge reached 6,500 feet and formed a cloud over several towns, forcing their evacuation. Merapi has a deadly history. It's eruption in 2010 (the same year Sinabung blew after centuries of dormancy) killed 300 people and forced the evacuation of 20,000 others.
"The peak was not visible due to the thick haze. Massive rumbling was heard for around two minutes. However, the outer observation post said that the mount had only spewed black smoke," Purwono, an officer at Mount Merapi Observation Post in Babadan, told the ANTARA news.
A few hours after Merapi, Sinabung exploded again with 8,000 feet of volcanic ash.
"It was the strongest eruption in the recent days," Surono, government volcano expert, told The AP.
Though Sinabung and Merapi stand far away from each on different land masses of Indonesia, they are both on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a chain of 129 volcanoes influenced by seismic activity and oceanic trenches.
