JAKARTA, Indonesia: A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted on Monday, sending thick clouds of smoke up to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in the air, the government's volcano monitoring agency said.The agency raised the alert level at Mount Gamkonora to the second highest level, meaning a major eruption was possible in the coming weeks and villagers on its slopes should ready themselves for evacuation, according to a posting on its Web site.

Seismic activity at the 1,635-meter (5,364-feet) mountain has been increasing over the past nine days, but on Monday tremors increased and it spat out clouds of smoke and ash that soared high in the air, the posting said.Authorities close to the volcano on remote Halmahera island were not immediately available for comment. Halmahera lies about 2,400 kilometers (1,490 miles) northeast of Jakarta.

Indonesia has more active volcanoes than any other nation because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" — a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

On Saturday, poisonous fumes from Mount Salak close to the capital Jakarta killed six teenagers who were hiking close to its crater.

Original Source: International Herald Tribune