OREANDA-NEWS Soputan volcano on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, near which a powerful earthquake recently occurred, released a column of ash height of about four kilometers. This was reported by the newspaper Jakarta Post, citing a statement of the Center of Volcanology and reduce geological risks (CSGR) of Indonesia.

The eruption began around 9 am local time (4: 00 GMT). According to forecasts of experts, the ash cloud will continue to move in the Western and North-Western directions, so the airport in the city of Manado, located in the South-East, it will not affect.

Local residents are advised to refrain from visiting areas within a radius of 4-6.5 kilometers from the volcano. Those who live in villages near Soputan have been warned of a possible outpouring of lava.

The authorities have not yet announced the evacuation, but increased the level of danger to the areas adjacent to the volcano: local residents are recommended to avoid this zone. The crews of the aircraft warned about the threat of ash emitted by the volcano. The ash column from Soputan rises to a height of 6 km.

"We also advise local residents to use respirators to avoid possible respiratory problems in case of ash fall," the center said in a statement. Representatives of the Indonesian disaster management authority (BPBD) distributed masks to residents of areas in the danger zone.

On the morning of September 28, near the coast of Sulawesi near the city of Palu, an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 occurred. Later in the same area, another 7.4 magnitude shock and a number of aftershocks were recorded. Pala was hit by the tsunami with a height of two meters. According to the latest data, more than 1.4 thousand people were killed, more than 60 thousand people were left homeless.

Indonesia is part of the so — called Pacific ring of fire-a powerful tectonic fault, where the most active tectonic plates are located. One of them moves at a speed of seven centimeters per year. Every year seismologists register here six to seven thousand earthquakes of magnitude above 4.0.