Mount Merapi erupts many times in Indonesia, forcing 250 people to flee

Mount Merapi in Indonesia erupted with avalanches of hot clouds overnight Thursday, forcing some 250 people to evacuate to makeshift shelters and blanketing adjacent villages and towns in ash. There were no recorded casualties.

According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency's spokesperson Abdul Muhari, the volcano on the densely populated island of Java ejected clouds of hot ash at least seven times just before and after midnight, and fast-moving pyroclastic flows, a mixture of rock, lava, and gas, travelled up to 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) down its slopes.
Several kilometres (miles) distant, a rumbling sound could be heard.

Because of the threats on Merapi, he added, 253 people were evacuated to temporary shelters in Glagaharjo and Umbulharjo villages in Yogyakarta special province, as well as Klaten district in Central Java.

According to Muhari, ash from the eruption blanketed several adjacent villages and towns, but no injuries were reported.

According to Indonesia's Geology and Volcanology Research Agency, residents living on Merapi's lush slopes should stay 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) away from the crater's mouth and be mindful of the dangers posed by lava.

Mount Merapi is the most active of Indonesia's more than 120 active volcanoes, erupting with lava and gas clouds on several occasions recently.
Since it began erupting last November, the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center has not raised Merapi's alert status, which was already at the second-highest of four categories.

The summit, which stands at 2,968 metres (9,737 feet), is located near Yogyakarta, a historic city with a population of several hundred thousand people that is part of a huge metropolitan region. The city is also a cultural centre in Java and the seat of royal dynasties that date back centuries.

Merapi's most recent significant eruption, in 2010, killed 347 people and forced 20,000 villagers to flee.