Indonesian Island Erupts, Five Dead

Mount Rokatenda erupted in spectacular fashion today, belching ash well over a mile (2,000 meters) into the sky. Hot lava flows followed, killing at least five people in a beach-side village.

Rokatenda makes up a bulk of the tiny island of Palue, a part of Indonesia. The island normally serves as home for a 3,000-plus people, though the entire island had been evacuated for months due to the threat the volcano posed; it has been active since November of last year. Officials currently cannot explain why there were people in the evacuation zone when the eruption occurred.

This volcano is located in the notorious "Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped line of geologically active hot-spots which encompasses the eastern, northern, and western shores of the Pacific Ocean.