JAKARTA, Feb 13 (NNN-ANTARA) – The most active volcano in Indonesia, Mount Merapi, on Java Island, erupted on Thursday (this) morning, and a warning over the risks of hot clouds and volcanic materials was issued, the volcanology agency said.
The 2,930-metre-high volcano, spewed a column of ash by up to 2,000 metres into the sky, the agency said.
Mount Merapi is located about 28 kilometres north of Indonesia’s province of Yogyakarta, which has a 2.4 million population, and thousands of people living on the flanks of the volcano.
Volcanologists cautioned that further explosions would potentially cause the collapse of a lava dome, triggering slides of pyroclastics and other volcanic materials.
Besides, lava floods may also strike the areas situated in the slope of the volcano, during heavy downpours, in the areas around the crater of the volcano, they said.
Volcanologists declared a no-go zone in the three-kilometre radius from the crater, and urged residents in the vicinity to take precautionary measures on possible risks, resulted from volcanic ashes and possible emergence of pyroclastic clouds.
Mount Merapi, which is situated in the border, shared by Central Java province and Yogyakarta province, has regularly erupted since 1548.
A total of 353 people were killed and about 350,000 others forced to evacuate, during eruptions of the volcano from Oct to Nov, 2010.
Mount Merapi is one of the 129 active volcanoes in the vast-archipelagic nation.
