Jakarta, March 11 (BNA): The eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi continued on Friday, forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano, according to the Associated Press.
A volcano on the densely populated island of Java released clouds of hot ash shortly before midnight on Wednesday into early morning Thursday and fast-moving lava flows — a mixture of rock, lava and gas — traveled up to 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) down its slopes.
This was the largest lava flow at Mount Merapi since authorities raised the threat level in November 2020, Hanik Hemida, head of Yogyakarta’s Center for Volcanology and Geohazard Mitigation, said.
Dozens of light eruptions continued during the day Thursday as a river of lava flowed and scorched gas clouds 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) down its slopes.
There were no reports of injuries. Hamida said about 253 people were evacuated to temporary shelters but returned to the volcano’s lush slopes after activity subsided.
Friday’s eruption sent a plume of hot clouds 100 meters into the air with avalanches of glowing lava at least 15 times, according to the Center for Geospatial Disaster Technology Research and Development.
Using seismic and other data, the agency estimated lava spread less than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the crater.
Echo Bodhi Liluno, who heads Indonesian geology and volcanology research, must be within kilometers (4.3 miles) of the crater and must be aware of the danger posed by the lava.
He said the lava dome below the southwestern edge of Merapi and the crater’s lava dome have been active since last year.
The volume was estimated at 1.5 million cubic meters in the dome of the southwest rim and 3.2 million cubic meters in the crater before partial collapse in the past two days, resulting in pyroclastic flows rapidly flowing down the southwest flank.
Hemeida said authorities have closed at least five tourist attractions located within the danger zone 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the crater and halted mining activities along the volcano’s rivers. Activities outside the danger zone remained open.
Mount Merapi is the most active of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, and it has erupted repeatedly with lava and gas clouds recently. The Center for Volcanology and Geohazard Mitigation did not raise the alert for Merapi, which was already at the second highest of four levels since it began appearing last November.
The 2,968-meter (97,737-foot) summit is located near Yogyakarta, an ancient city with hundreds of thousands of people in a large metro area. The city is also a center of Javanese culture and the seat of centuries-old royal dynasties.
The last major eruption of Merapi volcano in 2010 killed 347 people and caused the evacuation of 20,000 villagers.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it lies along the “Ring of Fire,” a series of horseshoe-shaped seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean.
Its last major eruption was in December, when Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on the island of Java, erupted with fury leaving 48 people dead and 36 missing in villages buried in layers of mud. Many of the injured sustained serious burns, and the eruption damaged 5,200 homes and buildings.
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