Mount Sinabung experienced another major tremor Friday and sent a plume of ash billowing 10,000 feet into the air and forced thousands of people to flee the area once more.

The volcano in Indonesia had been dormant for over four centuries when it rumbled to life Sunday and began spewing ash into the air, forcing over 30,000 people to evacuate the volcanoes sides where agricultural activity is significant due to the fertile ground.

Friday’s tremor was the largest since the eruption began a week ago and put on edge many residents who’d begun to return to their homes.

The 30,000 who were evacuated have been staying in cramped shelters in surrounding towns, but began to return to their homes and farms after the volcanoes activity appeared to be waning in recent days.

Friday’s tremor caused the mountain to shake violently for up to five minutes causing panicked evacuation for some, while others dug their heels in, refusing to leave their farms and small businesses.

Those that have remained behind, primarily men, have insisted they must stay to protect their property and tend the farms, which have become chocked by the descending dust.

“We just want this to be over, so we can pull our lives back together, and get our children back in school,” said 30-year-old Razia Barimbing, one of 50 men refusing to leave the area, although they had insisted their women and children escape the potential danger.

Volcanologists in Indonesia have said it is impossible to predict what the volcano will do, it may go back to sleep for another four hundred years after letting off some pent-up pressure, or the current activity may precede a much larger and more violent eruption that could send magma flying thousands of feet into the air.

There are over 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, a country of 18,000 islands along the so-called ‘ring of fire’, a chain of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean.