Indonesia: Mount Merapi volcano erupts; villages, roads covered in ash

The most active volcano in Indonesia, Mount Merapi, has erupted, spewing smoke and ash that blanketed villages near the crater and forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining on its slopes.

At approximately 12 p.m. (05:00 GMT) on Saturday, the volcano in Indonesia's Yogyakarta special region erupted, releasing clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava, and gas that traveled up to 4.3 miles (or seven kilometers) down its slopes.

A section of hot mists rose 100 meters very high, said the Public Catastrophe The executives Organization's representative Abdul Muhari. There were no quick reports of losses.

Throughout the day, the eruption obscured the sun. An officer at one of Merapi's observation posts stated that volcanic ash has affected at least eight villages near the volcano.

A village on Java Island near the volcano was depicted in images shown on the local station Kompas TV as having roads and houses covered in ash.

One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes is Merapi, which rises 9,721 feet to a height of 2,963 meters. More than 300 people were killed in its most recent major eruption in 2010, which necessitated the evacuation of 280,000 residents.

Merapi's most powerful eruption since 1930 killed approximately 1,300 people on Saturday. In 1994, about 60 people died in an eruption.

After exhibiting renewed activity, the volcano's alert status has remained at the second highest level since 2020.
Nearly 130 active volcanoes can be found on Indonesia's Pacific Ring of Fire, where the collision of continental plates triggers a lot of volcanic and seismic activity.

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