A VOLATILE volcano in central Indonesia has erupted again, spewing ash almost 600m into the air.

Monitoring official Farid Ruskanda says Mount Lokon on Sulawesi island erupted twice within a half-hour this afternoon.

The 1580m Mount Lokon has been dormant for years but rumbled back to life late last week.

Yesterday, it unleashed its most powerful eruption yet, spitting hot ash as high as 3474m.

Some 5000 people near the mountain have been relocated to safer areas.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes because it sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the Pacific Ocean.

The country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions last year.