SYDNEY: A volcano erupted on Friday in eastern Papua New Guinea, spewing rocks and ash into the air, forcing the evacuation of local communities and international flights to be re-routed, officials said.

Mount Tavurvur, which destroyed the town of Rabaul when it erupted simultaneously with nearby Mount Vulcan in 1994, rumbled to life early in the morning on the tip of the remote island of New Britain.

“The eruption started slow and slowly developed in a Strombolian (low level) eruption with incandescent projections accompanied by explosion noises and ongoing loud roaring and rumbling noises,” the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory said.

The Australian government issued a warning against travelling to the area, while flag carrier Qantas re-routed some flights to avoid the ash cloud.

“Authorities have evacuated communities close to the volcano. Residents of Rabaul town have been advised to remain indoors to avoid falling ash,” Canberra said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in the northern Australian city of Darwin said the ash cloud was drifting southeast.

“The eruption was to 60,000 feet, which is flight level.

There was two hours of high-level eruption,” an official from the centre, Cyndee Seals, said.

“The ash was initially blowing to the southwest but has now turned to the southeast and we expect it to clip the edge of Australian airspace later today, but we don’t expect ash over Australia. “She said planes may be forced to take alternative routes, with the ash forecast to move towards the Solomon Islands and then Vanuatu in the Pacific.

Qantas said three flights had been diverted.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2014