Mount Ibu, on the remote island of Halmahera, sent a column of smoke up to four kilometres (2.5 miles) into the sky in an eruption on Wednesday.

Thousands of islanders are set to be evacuated after a volcano erupted in eastern Indonesia, spewing a towering column of smoke and ash into the atmosphere, officials said Wednesday.

Mount Ibu, one of the country's most active volcanoes, sent ash plumes 4km into the sky, forcing authorities to raise the alert level and urge residents to seek shelter A volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted at least a thousand times this month,

An eruption at a 1,300-metre-high Indonesian volcano has trigged the highest alert level, according to the national Geological Agency on Friday. The ash column from Mount Ibu on the island of Halmahera reached a height of 4 kilometres in recent days.

Authorities have begun evacuating 3,000 residents near the Mount Ibu volcano on Indonesia's eastern island of Halmahera, the disaster agency said on Thursday (January 16), after an eruption this week sent a cloud of thick grey ash as high as four-km (2.5-mile) into the sky.

Mount Ibu, a volcano on Indonesia's Halmahera island, erupted Wednesday, sending four-kilometer high ash clouds into the sky. Authorities raised the alert level and advised against activities within five kilometers of the crater.

Hundreds of islanders have been evacuated, with thousands more awaiting their turn following increased volcanic eruptions in eastern Indonesia, officials said on Thursday. Mount Ibu, located on the remote island of Halmahera in North Maluku province,