Indonesia's ghost villages

Crumbling houses. Vehicles overgrown by vegetation. Dusty kitchen utensils. A cassette recorder caked with volcanic ash.

This is all that's left of the "ghost" villages abandoned five years ago when Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupted a few kilometers (miles) away after 400 years of silence. Farms and homes once lovingly tended now serve as eerie reminders of the volcano's power.

Sinabung caught scientists and everyone else by surprise when it sprang to life in 2010. The 2,460-meter (8,070-foot) volcano has been erupting sporadically ever since, killing 17 people in an eruption early last year and burying the villages of Bekerah in 2013 and Suka Meriah in 2014. Residents of six other villagers were also forced to abandon their homes.

All told, more than 30,000 people had to evacuate after a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) area around the volcano was declared too dangerous to inhabit, and today 6,200 people remain in temporary shelters set up by the local government or are staying with relatives while waiting to be relocated to new homes.

The Associated Press returned for a look at how nature is slowly reclaiming the villages. The haunting photos reflect how quickly life there stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was evacuated.

Mount Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 photo, Mount Sinabung looms above the village of Sukanalu which was abandoned following its eruption, in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The village is one of few others 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. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 photo, a cassette player caked with dried volcanic ash is seen inside a house abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Simacem, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Crumbling houses and personal belongings left behind now serve as eerie reminders of how life suddenly stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was forced to evacuate their homes. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 photo, wild plants overgrow the rubble of a house as Mount Sinabung is seen in the background in Sibintun village which was abandoned following the eruption of the volcano, in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Crumbling houses and personal belongings left behind now serve as an eerie reminder that there was civilization just a few kilometers from the rumbling volcano. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

This Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 photo shows the interior of a house abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in the village of Guru Kinayan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. 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. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 photo, the door of a barn is seen secured with a weathered padlock in the village of Guru Kinayan which was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung, in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Crumbling buildings and personal belongings left behind now serve as eerie reminders of how life suddenly stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was forced to evacuate their homes. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 photo, chairs are strewn across a church which was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in the village of Kuta Gugung, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Crumbling buildings and personal belongings left behind now serve as eerie reminders of how life suddenly stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was forced to evacuate their homes. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 photo, damaged photographs hang inside a house abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Simacem, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Crumbling houses and personal belongings left behind now serve as eerie reminders of how life suddenly stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was forced to evacuate their homes. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 photo, a church is seen dwarfed by Mount Sinabung at the abandoned village of Simacem, North Sumatra, Indonesia. 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. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 photo, a photograph hangs on a wall of a house which was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in the village of Guru Kinayan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Crumbling buildings and personal belongings left behind now serve as eerie reminders of how life suddenly stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was forced to evacuate their homes. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 photo, the wreckage of a van is overgrown by plants in Simacem village in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The village was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung as it was considered too close to the still rumbling volcano. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 photo, the peak of Mount Sinabung is seen through a window of a burnt out house at the abandoned village of Sibintun, North Sumatra, Indonesia. 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. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 photo, the peak of Mount Sinabung is seen through a broken window of the living room of an abandoned house in Simacem, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Crumbling houses and personal belongings left behind now serve as eerie reminders of how life suddenly stopped when the volcano erupted and everyone was forced to evacuate their homes. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 photo, Mount Sinabung is seen through a crumbling house at the abandoned village of Simacem, North Sumatra, Indonesia. 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. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

This Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 photo shows the interior of a house abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in the village of Guru Kinayan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. 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. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

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Text from the AP news story, Indonesia 'ghost villages' eerie vestiges of volcano's power. 

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