Mount Kadovar, which is located about 18 miles off the north coast of Papua New Guinea near the mouth of the Sepik River, started erupting on Friday.
The 365m mountain came to life sending plumes of ash thousands of feet into the air and shocked the world as the volcano had not shown any signs of activity.
More than 500 residents had to be evacuated from Kadovar Island, however no loss of life has been reported.
The ash clouds have been thrown up to a height of 2,133 metres (7,000 feet), which formed a plume that travelled west-northwest of the island, according to the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.
Will Mount Kadovar erupt again?
The eruption is the first activity on record and there have been no confirmed records of previous eruption of Kadovar.
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Therefore it is unclear whether the volcano will erupt again as there is nothing to compare this eruption to.
Historical records suggest the Cadaver Island volcano could be one of two “burning islands” mentioned by the 17th century British explorer William Dampier.
The volcano is not listed as one of Papua New Guinea’ 16 volcanoes deemed to be active and has not been routinely monitored.
Kadovar Island is very remote and so installing equipment there is very difficult, Steve Saunders, from the Rabaul Volcano Observatory said.
He said due to the lack of equipment, it is hard to understand what would happen next.
Mr Saunders said: “Two things may happen. The rise of magma may stall and it will just stop and then hopefully the magma will cool down and things will go back to normal.
“Or the magma will continue cracking to the surface… and because of the amount of time since the last eruption, the magma is likely gas-rich and then the eruption will be quite violent.”
Experts have warned that the eruption could spark tsunamis in the area and landslides.
The Rabaul Volcanological Observatory said in a statement: “Due to the steepness of the island, landslides are possible and together with the explosive nature of magma, tsunamis may be generated.”
Matthew Moihoi, a seismologist at PNG’s Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby told ABC News any more serious activity could generate a tsunami.
“The base is somewhere underneath the ocean floor, and if there’s a chance the eruption might escalate then there might be a potential of a caldera collapse,” he said.
“And if that is the case then it will definitely generate a tsunami and then it will affect a wider community.”
US-based charity Samaritan Aviation, which operates seaplanes to remote areas of PNG, said they did not have details to where all the families evacuated from the island have gone.
The population of the island ranges from at least 500 to more than 600, local media have estimated.