Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano erupts, spewing ash 2km high

Mount Merapi’s last major eruption in 2010 killed more than 300 people and forced the evacuation of 280,000

Residents were ordered to stay outside a no-go zone around the rumbling crater near Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta

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Ash spews from Mount Merapi during an eruption as seen from Yogyakarta in Indonesia on February 13. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:36pm, 13 Feb 2020Updated: 7:36pm, 13 Feb 2020

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, erupted on Thursday as fiery red molten lava streamed down from the crater and it belched clouds of grey ash 2,000 metres into the sky.

Authorities did not raise the rumbling volcano’s alert status after the early-morning eruption, but they advised commercial planes to take caution in the area.

But any activity at Merapi raises concern and local residents were ordered to stay outside a three-kilometre no-go zone around the rumbling crater near Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta.

Mount Merapi in Central Java, one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. Photo: James Wendlinger

Volcanic ash rained down on a 10-square kilometre area, according to the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre.

Mount Merapi’s last major eruption in 2010 killed more than 300 people and forced the evacuation of some 280,000 residents.

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