Panic struck residents and an airport was forced to shut down when a volcano erupted and blew ash 2,000 metres into the air in the eastern Indonesian island of North Maluku on Sunday.

No casualty or injury was reported from the eruption of the Mount Gamalama in Ternate Island famous for its spices that drew Portuguese and Dutch colonizers to Indonesia in the 16th century. Darno Lamane, a scientist monitoring the peak, said residents ran out of their homes screaming when the volcano erupted, according to AFP.

Officials at the Sultan Babullah Airport located at the foot of the 1,715-meter high volcano decided to temporarily stop operation on Monday for safety reasons. The PT Garuda Indonesia airline flies twice daily to the island.

"The situation has calmed and many residents have gone back home," AFP quoted Lamane as saying.

Gamalama, which forms the entire Ternate island, last erupted in 2003 with no fatality. There are still clove groves in its foothills as in the nearby islands comprising the former Moluccas chain. Ternate city is the main business center for the islands now known for its nickel mining.