AP says: A volcano erupted Thursday in central Indonesia, spitting lava and smoke thousands of feet into the air and sending panicked residents in the area fleeing, disaster officials said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The first blast at Mount Lokon occurred at 10:46 p.m., forcing the evacuation of 500 residents living along its slopes, said Brian Rulrone, a disaster management agency official.
It was followed by a second eruption just after midnight and a third at 1:10 a.m.
Darwis Sitinjak, another disaster official, told El Shinta radio from the scene that soldiers and police were helping rescuers get people off the mountain. They join 2,000 others who had been evacuated as a precaution on Wednesday.
The 5,740-foot (1,750-meter) mountain in north Sulawesi province is one of about 129 active volcanos in Indonesia.
Its last major eruption in 1991 killed a Swiss hiker and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.