KUPANG, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Hundreds of people living near a volcano in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara were evacuated on Thursday because of increased volcanic activity, the Antara news agency reported.

About 500 people residing near Mount Lewotolok in Lembata district abandoned their homes amid the volcano's mounting activity. "Most of them left for the nearest city, Lewoleba," said Lembata Deputy District Chief Viktor Mado Watun, as quoted by Antara. "All related government officials will soon hold a coordination meeting to deal with the latest situation."

"Black smoke columns are coming out of the mountain's crater, the air is filled with the smell of sulfur while rumbling sounds are heard around the mountain," he added.

Residents decided to leave due to the increasing activity of Mount Lewotolok over the past few days, even though the government has not yet announced an evacuation plan. Viktor said ten villages are likely to be affected and suffer material losses if the volcano erupts.

On January 2, the country's Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) raised the alert level at the volcano to level 3. The center uses a warning system with four levels of alerts, with level 1 being the lowest and level 4 being the highest.

Dozens of active volcanoes in Indonesia are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes is Mount Merapi, which is located on the island of Java near Jogjakarta, the country's second-most visited area after Bali. In 2010, more than 300 people were killed in a series of eruptions between October and November which also displaced over 300,000 people.

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