Indonesia’s Merapi volcano spews hot ash clouds in new eruption that blocked out the sun
- Lava travelled 7km down the mountain, the eruption blocked out the sun and blanketed several villages with falling ash on the densely populated Java island
- Merapi is the most active of 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently – 347 people died in a 2010 eruption
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi erupted on Saturday with avalanches of searing gas clouds and lava, forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano.
Merapi, on the densely populated island of Java, unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) down its slopes. A column of hot clouds rose 100 meters (yards) into the air, said the National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
The eruption throughout the day blocked out the sun and blanketed several villages with falling ash. No casualties have been reported.
It was Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised the alert level to the second-highest in November 2020, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre.
She said residents living on Merapi’s slopes were advised to stay 7km (4.3 miles) away from the crater’s mouth and be aware of the danger posed by lava.
Tourism and mining activities were halted.