Indonesia’s Mount Merapi erupted on Saturday with clouds of gas and an avalanche of 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, spews clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travel 4.3 miles down its slopes. Abdul Muhri, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said a column of hot clouds rose 100 yards into the air.
The eruption blocked out the sun for a whole day and covered many villages with falling ash. There is no information about any casualty.
Hanik Humaida, head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, said it was Merapi’s largest lava flow since authorities raised the alert level to the second-highest level in November 2020.
She said residents living on Merapi’s slopes were advised to stay 4.3 miles away from the crater’s mouth and to be aware of the danger posed by the lava.
Tourism and mining activities were halted.
The 9,737-foot mountain is about 18 miles from Yogyakarta, an ancient center of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties dating back centuries. About 1.25 million people live within a 6-mile radius of the volcano.
Merapi is the most active of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has recently erupted with clouds of lava and gas. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and displaced 20,000 villagers.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped chain of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on the island of Java, erupted in December 2021, killing 48 people and leaving 36 missing.
