INCREDIBLE images show the moment lightning strikes near the erupting mountain Sinabung in Indonesia.
A storm crackled overhead when the eruption sent a cloud hot as 16,400 meters into the air.
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The sky is bright purple illuminated in a dusty haze.
The images were taken on Tuesday a few days after the huge eruption in Karo, North Sumatra – the first major since August last year.
According to a local geological agency, which recorded 13 bursts, it started to break down early in the morning.
Residents were pictured fleeing the area because they were told to avoid a five-kilometer radius around the crater.
Others marveled at the plumes of smoke.
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Melted lava was also spilled from the Naman Teran village while the area was covered with thick volcanic ash.
Roy Bangun, 41, said: “The residents are scared, many stay indoors to avoid the thick volcanic ash.”
Muhammad Nurul Asrori, a monitoring officer at Sinabung, said Tuesday’s smoke and ash plume was the largest he had seen since 2010.
“The large lava dome can burst at any time and cause a larger avalanche of hot clouds,” he said.
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Sinabung, an 8070-foot volcano, was dormant for centuries before coming back to life in 2010 when two people were killed by an eruption.
After another period of inactivity, it broke out again in 2013 and has remained very active ever since.
In 2014, at least 16 people were killed, while seven exploded in 2016.
No casualties were reported this week, but an official earlier called on people to stay at least 3km from the crater, the volcanology and geological hazard mitigation center in Indonesia said.
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The area lies on the “Ring of Fire” – a belt of tectonic plate boundaries that surrounds the Pacific Ocean.
The ring is responsible for 80 percent of the world’s seismic activity.
Mount Merapi on the island of Java, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, also erupted this week and radiated lava on Monday.