Sinabung volcano belches out fresh avalanche of ash in Indonesia (VIDEO)

A volcano in western Indonesia that has been spewing clouds of searing gas into the air over the past few weeks discharged a powerful new avalanche of volcanic material on Thursday.

The volcano spewed clouds of gas as high as one kilometer (0.6 miles) into the air, as a thick blanket of volcanic ash continued to slide as far as 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) towards the southeast.