Pictured from a passenger plane: Menacing 12-mile-high ash cloud looms over Indonesia's 'Mountain of Spirits' after volcano erupts

By JOHN HALL

Published: 16:28 EDT, 30 May 2014 | Updated: 04:38 EDT, 31 May 2014

This is the incredible moment when a huge volcano erupted in Indonesia sending ash spewing an estimated 12 miles into the sky.

The powerful explosion took place at Mount Sangeang Api in the Lesser Sunda Islands - an area that plays host to 129 active volcanoes - and sent a distinctive spaceship-shaped ring of pyroclastic smoke high into the air.

The photographs were taken by professional photographer Sofyan Efendi during a commercial flight from Bali to the fishing town of Labuan Bajo in West Nusa Tenggara province.

Scores of farmers who work but do not live on the island were ordered to leave and not return until the volcano has finished erupting, said Muhammad Hendrasto, head of Indonesia's National Volcanology Agency. There are not believed to have been any deaths or injuries as a result of the eruption.

Authorities have had Mount Sangiang Api - which means 'Mountain of Spirits' in Balinese - on high alert for almost a year, he told China's Xinhua news agency.

The volcano sits in Indonesia's notorious 'Ring of Fire' - an area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. It has 452 volcanoes - 75 per cent of the world's total.

Since Sangiang Api's first recorded eruption in 1512, it is believed to have erupted a total of 20 times.

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From the air: An earlier set of photographs were taken by professional photographer Sofyan Efendi during a commercial flight from Bali to the fishing town of Labuan Bajo 

Eerie: After erupting, the volcano sent a distinctive spaceship-shaped ring of pyroclastic smoke high into the air. Pilots in the area reported seeing the cloud rising to 65,000 feet, spreading over a 25 mile area

Eruption: The powerful explosion took place at Mount Sangeang Api in the Lesser Sunda Islands - an area that plays host to 129 active volcanoes. The Sunda Islands sit inside Indonesia's notorious 'Ring of Fire'. Since Sangiang Api's first recorded eruption in 1512, it is believed to have erupted a total of 20 times

Cloud: The volcano sits in Indonesia's notorious 'Ring of Fire' - an area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. It has 452 volcanoes - 75 per cent of the world's total

Safety concerns: Scores of farmers who work but do not live on the island were ordered to leave and not return until the volcano has finished erupting