Indonesia volcano Mount Merapi erupts, blankets villages in ash
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A path strewn with volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, in Magelang near Yogyakarta yesterday.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
JAKARTA • Indonesia's most active volcano Mount Merapi erupted yesterday, belching a cloud of ash into the air as red lava flowed down its crater.
The early morning explosions spewed clouds as far as 3.5km from the rumbling volcano, blanketing local communities in ash.
There were no evacuation orders or reports of casualties.
Merapi, close to Indonesia's cultural capital Yogyakarta in Java, has been particularly active in recent months and the authorities raised the danger level late last year. Residents were told to avoid the area within a 5km radius of the rumbling volcano.
Indonesia's geological agency said: "Residents should avoid volcanic ash and they've been warned about potential lava flows in the area surrounding Merapi."
The volcano's last major eruption in 2010 killed more than 300 people and forced the evacuation of around 280,000 residents from surrounding areas.
That was its most powerful eruption since 1930, when around 1,300 people were killed, while another explosion in 1994 claimed about 60 lives.
The South-east Asian archipelago nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes.
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300
More than this number of people were killed in Mount Merapi's last major eruption in 2010.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
