JAKARTA, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - More than 700 people living in villages near an active volcano in eastern Indonesia are leaving their homes after warnings of a possible eruption, local media said on Tuesday.

Ash and lava was discharged from Mount Karangetang on Siau Island off North Sulawesi on Sunday which prompted local seismologists to issue the highest warning of an imminent eruption.

The Straits Times cited Agus Budiantos, a government volcanologist, as saying "Its current activity remains high. The main threat is heat clouds that will be fatal for people living in villages on the slope."

There are no reports of casualties, local officials said.

The last major eruption of Mount Karangetang occurred in 1974, when the entire island was evacuated.

Indonesia is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions triggering deadly tsunamis since it rests in the area of the so called Ring of Fire, where movement and the collision of crustal plates result in about 90% of world's earthquakes.