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A powerful eruption “completely annihilated” an Indonesian volcano’s peak

A wall of ash.
A wall of ash.
Image: AP Photo/Sarianto
By
Johnny Simon
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Mount Sinabung, one of Indonesia’ most active volcanoes, erupted on Monday (Feb. 19), unleashing a massive ash cloud over the island of Sumatra.

The images from the immediate aftermath of the eruption show the cloud reaching an apex of 7 kilometers in the air, as well as ash coating the towns that lay beneath.

Mount Sinabung spews volcanic ash as it erupts in Kutarakyat on Feb. 19, 2018.
Mount Sinabung spews volcanic ash as it erupts in Kutarakyat on Feb. 19, 2018.
Image: AP Photo/Endro Rusharyanto
Ash rises from Mount Sinabung on Feb. 19.
Ash rises from Mount Sinabung on Feb. 19.
Image: Antara Foto/Maz Yons via Reuters
Ash from Mount Sinabung volcano covers a car and street following an eruption in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia on Feb, 19.
Ash from Mount Sinabung volcano covers a car and street following an eruption in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia on Feb, 19.
Image: Antara Foto/ Surianto Sembiring via Reuters
Students clean their school yard from ash after Mount Sinabung volcano erupted on Feb. 19 at Payung village in Karo, North Sumatra on Feb. 20.
Students clean their school yard from ash after Mount Sinabung volcano erupted on Feb. 19 at Payung village in Karo, North Sumatra on Feb. 20.
Image: Antara Foto/Ahmad Putra via Reuters

There have been no fatalities or injuries reported yet, according to Reuters, but the eruption was significant enough to alter the peak of the volcano itself. The Associated Press reported that a large chunk of Sinabung’s peak, also called the “lava dome,” was lost in the eruption.

Side-by-side images released by Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation show what the top of the volcano, with more than a million cubic meters shaved off—”completely annihilated,” in their words—looks like.

This undated combo photo released by the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) of Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry shows the peak of Mount Sinabung in Karo, North Sumatra before, top, and after with a graphic line superimposed on the area of the new crater following its eruption on Monday. Text on top of frame reads “Before Feb. 19, 2018” and text on bottom reads “After Feb. 19, 2018.”
This undated combo photo released by the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) of Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry shows the peak of Mount Sinabung in Karo, North Sumatra before, top, and after with a graphic line superimposed on the area of the new crater following its eruption on Monday. Text on top of frame reads “Before Feb. 19, 2018” and text on bottom reads “After Feb. 19, 2018.”
Image: PVMBG via AP
Ash from Mount Sinabung on Feb. 19.
Ash from Mount Sinabung on Feb. 19.
Image: Antara Foto/Tibta Peranginangin via Reuters