Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano, erupted Monday, sending plumes of ash into the air and pyroclastic flows — a mixture of volcanic debris — down its slopes for a second straight day.
Geologists in Indonesia say the 2,968-meter-high Merapi stratovolcano has seen increased volcanic activity in recent weeks, with a dome of solidified lava growing rapidly on its summit. They say the lava dome partially collapsed Sunday, sending at least seven pyroclastic flows, as much as 3 kilometers down the mountain's sides. There were three such flows on Monday.
Officials say ash from the eruption blanketed several villages and nearby towns, but no casualties were reported.
Mount Merapi is located on Java, Indonesia’s most populous Island, and is located near Yogyakarta, an ancient city of about 400,000 people.
Hanik Humaida, head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, told the Associated Press the volcano has been at the orange alert level — the second highest alert status — since eruptions began last November.
She said the current eruptions did not change the volcano's status. However, villagers living on Merapi’s slopes were advised to stay 5 kilometers away from the crater’s mouth.
Merapi's last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and displaced 10,000, one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions in recent years.
Some information in this report came from the Associated Press.