See Three Volcanoes Erupt at the Same Time
Indonesia's Sinabung, Rinjani, and Gamalama mountains have all erupted in the past few days, sending great clouds of ash into the sky and disrupting travel.
Olympic soccer players aren't the only ones to log a hat trick this week: Indonesia has three volcanoes erupting at once.
The country is located along the geologically active Ring of Fire and is home to about 130 active volcanoes. Three of those have been rumbling and spewing ash this week, including Mounts Sinabung, Gamalama, and Rinjani.
Although no deaths have been reported, airports have been closed and travel has been disrupted, including for those headed for the popular vacation spot Bali. Mount Rinjani is located on Lombok Island near Bali, Sinabung is on Sumatra, and Gamalama is in the Moluccas chain of islands. (See our all-time favorite volcano pictures.)
Thousands of people have been evacuated, particularly around Sinabung, which has coated surrounding areas in a blanket of ash. So far this year, at least 13,000 people have been evacuated out of Indonesia's 250 million population due to volcanoes, with many of those from around Sinabung.
The eruptions were not unexpected and were presaged by earthquakes, which often occur as magma moves under the ground.
Airports in Ternate and Lombok have been closed due to ash in the air, which can pose a hazard for aircraft.
