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A volcano on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has erupted just five days after the area was left devastated by an earthquake and tsunami.

Mount Soputan began emitting ash 6,000 metres (19,600 feet) into the air at 8.47am local time (2:57am BST) on Wednesday morning.

The Multiplatform Application for Geohazard and Mitigation and Assessement (MAGMA) confirmed the volcano's eruption on social media.

Prior to the eruption, scientists had previously been warning of the volcano's increasingly restless behaviour.

No immediate evacuations have been ordered, but there are fears that the volcano has the potential to affect populations miles away.

Across the Indonesian island, mass graves are being dug for the 1,340 people known to have died after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit on Friday, triggering a tsunami that battered the city of Palu.

Indonesia has a population of 250 million people across its various islands and is known for being home to the popular tourist destination of Bali.

So is it safe to travel to Indonesia and how will this latest disaster impact the already struggling Sulawesi? Here's everything you need to know:

Where is Mount Soputan?

Mount Soputan is a small stratovolcano standing 1,784m tall and is located in the northern region of Sulawesi Island, hundreds of miles away from the tsunami-hit Palu.

Soputan is one of the island's most active volcanoes, having last erupted in 2015.

How dangerous is it?

Wednesday's eruption status was raised from an alert to a standby 2.5 miles from the summit.

Standby status has been put in place, which means the public should avoid the area nearest the volcano and wear masks in the event of an ashfall.

The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) issued a warning to the affected area, stating: "The community should not have activities in all areas within a 4km radius of the peak of Mount Soputan and within the sectoral expansion area to the west-south-west direction as far as 6.5km from the peak which is a crater opening area to avoid the potential threat of lava and hot clouds."

Shortly before its eruption, experts noticed increased seismic and thermal activity in the region in recent weeks.

Did the earthquake trigger the eruption?

There's no way to tell whether the earthquake triggered the eruption.

There have been cases where major earthquakes have taken place shortly before volcanic eruptions, but there's not enough evidence to draw a link between the two.

An Indonesian volcanologist told online news site Tempo: "It could be that this earthquake triggered the eruption, but the direct correlation has yet to be seen as there has been an increase in the Mount Soputan activity."

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What does the eruption mean for Sulawesi?

Aid is already struggling to reach the thousands of survivors following the earthquake and tsunami and there are fears that ash clouds from Soputan could hamper rescue efforts even further.

In and around Palu, one of the worst hit areas, many villages have been isolated by landslides caused by the earthquake.

Around 200,000 people are also in need of urgent help, according to the UN's humanitarian office.

Rescue teams have found it hard to reach areas outside the city of Palu.

Jens Laerke, from the UN's humanitarian office, said: "There are still large areas of what might be the worst-affected areas that haven't been properly reached, but the teams are pushing, they are doing what they can."

How is a volcano formed?

Volcanoes are formed when magma rises through cracks in the Earth's crust, building up pressure inside the earth.

When this pressure is released, magma explodes to the surface causing a volcanic eruption.

After several eruptions, the lava cools to form a build up of rock and a volcano forms.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which means it is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Is it safe to travel to Indonesia?

The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to within 4km of the Mount Agung crater in east Bali and within 7km of the Mount Sinabung crater in Kalo Regency, North Sumatra, due to ongoing volcanic activity.

Due to the earthquake and tsunami, the Foreign Office has also advised against "all but essential travel" to the city of Palu and the districts of Donggala, Mamuju Utara, Sigi and Parigi Moutong in Central Sulawesi.