Medan: Thousands of villagers living near Mount Sinabung have been forced to flee their homes on Tuesday morning, as the Indonesian volcano has been spewing hot ash down its slopes, spewing a huge column of ash up to five kilometers into the sky.

Volcanologists said 13 separate blasts had been recorded, belching debris up to 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) above the island of Sumatra.

It is believed that a large lava dome beneath the surface could burst at any time which can cause a large avalanche of hot clouds.

"There was no immediate danger to life or property with a five-kilometer (3-mile) ring around the volcano has been left unoccupied over recent years," said authorities.

So far, no evacuation orders have been issued, and there has been no reported flight disruption.

The 2,460-meter volcano was dormant for centuries before returning to life in 2010, when an eruption killed two people.

The government then upgraded the volcano's status from category "B" to category "A" meaning it must be monitored constantly.

After a three-year of inactivity, the volcano came back to life in 2013, triggering forest fires and sending searing ash and volcanic gas into the air and has remained highly active since then.

In 2014, another eruption killed at least 16 people, including seven university students who were volunteering to help residents affected by the volcanic disaster.

As Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and islets, there are nearly 130 active volcanoes.

Moreover, in 2010, Mount Merapi erupted in the central province of Java island, killing more than 350 people and leaving some 150,000 others displaced.

The catastrophe is regarded as the deadliest in the country's recent history and one of the world’s most active volcanoes.

 Mount Merapi erupted this week, spewing lava down one of its flanks.