A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted on Sunday morning, spewing an ash tower more than two miles into the sky and prompting officials to warn people to keep away.

Mount Ibu, located on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, erupted at 12:37 am (1537 GMT Saturday) and sent a thick column of dark smoke and ash west of the peak.

The eruption lasted more than three minutes and the ash towered 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) above the peak, an official at Mount Ibu’s monitoring post, Axl Roeroe, said in a statement on Sunday.

“To residents and tourists near Mount Ibu, please do not conduct any activity within a two-kilometre radius (of the crater),” he said.