Anak Krakatau, Indonesia, October 30, 2007—Hot ash and gases mushroom from Indonesia's Arak Krakatau volcano, one of several volcanoes in the island nation that have rumbled to life in the past week.

Arak Krakatau, which sits between the islands of Java and Sumatra (see map), has been spewing plumes of smoke for several days and began to spew lava early Friday, November 2.

Officials said they weren't expecting a major eruption. But at nearby Mount Kelud they called for the evacuation of thousands of residents, after hundreds of strong tremors were measured there in recent days.

Meanwhile, an alert was issued for two more volcanoes on the island of Sulawesi, where an eruption spewed a column of ash 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) into the atmosphere last week.

Arak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatau, was formed by the cataclysmic explosion of Krakatau (Krakatoa) in 1883, which triggered tsunamis, killed thousands of people, and sent up a cloud of ash so large that it affected weather patterns worldwide.

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