MANAGUA (AFP) - A volcano in Nicaragua that has been dormant for 110 years spewed gas and lava on Sunday (Jan 3) for the second time in a month.

The volcano known as Momotombo in the west of the Central American country rumbled into activity before dawn, but then calmed down again, the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies said.

No one living near the mountain was hurt, it said.

Momotombo stands 1,297 metres (4,255 feet) high, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital Managua, separated by a large lake called Lago Xolotlan.

On Dec 1 the volcano belched gas and ash and then lava that poured onto uninhabited areas on the slopes of the mountain.

Then on Christmas Day the volcano was rattled by some 20 small earthquakes of up to 3.0 on the Richter scale, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Its last big eruption dates back to 1905.

In 1980, the volcano emitted lava, but there was no eruptive explosion. In 2006 it emitted gases only.