Erupting Indonesian volcano spewing hot lava

Mount Soputan volcano, which lies in North Sulawesi province, likely was producing a small lava flow, but authorities were unable to spot it because the crater remained covered by clouds, Agus Budianto, chief of volcano monitoring for Indonesia's state-run volcanology centre, told DPA.

Soputan has been at a Level 3 alert since its last eruption in December 2006 due to its "short duration activity" - meaning it only experiences tremors for short periods before erupting, as was the case on Thursday morning, Budianto said.

A Level 4 alert is only given when an active volcano is threatening the safety of people living nearby, but the villages closest to Soputan are 8 kilometres away.