Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung sprang to life over the past few years, erupting and releasing destructive pyroclastic flows following 400 years of dormancy. Numerous villages that had been established on its slopes now sit completely empty—declared too dangerous to inhabit by Indonesian authorities. Associated Press photographer Binsar Bakkara recently visited the newly-formed ghost villages of Guru Kinayan, Simacem, Kuta Gugung, and Sibintun, documenting the crumbling houses and personal belongings left behind that serve as “eerie reminders of how life suddenly stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was forced to evacuate their homes.”
Volcanic Ghost Villages in Indonesia
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A damaged church is dwarfed by Mount Sinabung in the abandoned village of Simacem, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on November 16, 2015. The village is located within an area which, following the eruption of the volcano, has been declared too dangerous to inhabit, forcing its residents to abandon their homes. #
Binsar Bakkara / AP -
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The door of a barn is secured with a weathered padlock in the village of Guru Kinayan, which was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung, in North Sumatra, Indonesia, on November 13, 2015. #
Binsar Bakkara / AP -
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Mount Sinabung looms above the abandoned village of Sukanalu in North Sumatra, Indonesia, on November 16, 2015. The village is one of several declared too dangerous to inhabit, forcing residents to abandon their homes. #
Binsar Bakkara / AP -
Chairs are strewn across a church which was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in the village of Kuta Gugung, Indonesia, on November 13, 2015. #
Binsar Bakkara / AP -
A photograph hangs on the wall of a house which was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung, in the village of Guru Kinayan on November 13, 2015. #
Binsar Bakkara / AP -
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Wild plants overgrow the rubble of a house as Mount Sinabung looms in the background, above the abandoned Sibintun village in North Sumatra on November 12, 2015. #
Binsar Bakkara / AP
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