Four adults and two children were killed when Mount Rokatenda suddenly erupted Saturday morning.  The eruption blew volcanic rock over a mile into the air.

The volcano covered a beach with hot ash killing the six.  Officials had issued a mandatory evacuation order for the area when the volcano began to show activity last year.  An almost two mile exclusion zone was routinely ignored by locals who had begun to accept the rumbling of the volcano was just normal and believed no eruption was about to happen.

The eruption began around 4:30 a.m. local time and continued for four hours according to But Sorono of Indonesia’s volcanology agency.

The island of Palue where the volcano is located has a population of about 10,000 people.  The island has been evacuated twice in the last year because of eruptions resulting in major interruptions to farming and trade from the region.

Officials are now telling residents to avoid the area because they cannot predict if another eruption will take place.

The volcano is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire.