Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- A volcano erupted again in Indonesia early Friday in northern Sumatra, sending hundreds of villagers fleeing as it unleashed tremors and spewed powerful bursts of hot ash and debris.
"Constant tremors were felt since yesterday and, between 4:38 and 4:51 a.m. this morning, the volcano erupted, shooting thick, hot ash 3,000 meters (1.9 miles) to the sky," said Surono, the head of the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation. "This is the biggest one, compared to the last two."
Surono goes by one name, as many Indonesians do.
The villagers in Karo province had ignored warnings and returned to their homes after the volcano showed no activity since Monday. The fresh eruption forced them back into temporary shelters.
The Sinabung mountain erupted for the first time in four centuries last Sunday, forcing the evacuation of about 30,000 villagers who live within 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) of the volcano's crater.
