At least eight villages near the volcano have been affected by volcanic ash.
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi has erupted, spewing smoke and ash over villages near the crater and forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano.
The volcano, located in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta Special Region, erupted at 12 noon (05:00 GMT) on Saturday and spewed a cloud of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas as far as seven kilometers (4.3 miles) down its slopes. ,
Abdul Muhri, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said a column of hot clouds rose 100 meters into the air. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The eruption blocked out the sun for an entire day. An official at an observation post on Merapi said at least eight villages near the volcano had been hit by volcanic ash.
Images broadcast on local outlet Kompas TV showed ash-covered houses and streets in a village near the volcano on the island of Java.
At 2,963 meters (9,721 ft) high, Merapi is one of the highest mountains in Indonesia. Active Volcano. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed more than 300 people and forced the evacuation of some 280,000 residents.
Saturday was Merapi’s most powerful eruption since 1930, when some 1,300 people were killed. About 60 people were killed in an explosion in 1994.
Volcano alert status remains at second highest level since 2020 after fresh update action,
Indonesia, which has about 130 active volcanoes, lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.