The Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia spits thick smoke in the air, seen from Yogyakarta. (AFP)
Jakarta:
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, erupted twice on Sunday, sending gray ash clouds 6,000 meters into the sky, the country’s geological agency said.
The two eruptions lasted about seven minutes, the agency said, and prompted local authorities to order residents to stay outside a three-kilometer prohibited area around the crumbling crater near Yogyakarta, the cultural capital of the city. ‘Indonesia.
The agency did not raise the alert status of the volcano after the eruptions, but advised commercial aircraft to be careful in the area.
Local media reported that residents of neighboring areas, including Sleman and Klaten, heard loud rumbles this morning.
The last major eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010 killed more than 300 people and forced the evacuation of some 280,000 residents from surrounding areas.
It was its most powerful eruption since 1930, which killed around 1,300 people, while another explosion in 1994 cost around 60 lives.
Indonesia has more than 17,000 islands and islets – and nearly 130 active volcanoes.
The nation of the Southeast Asian archipelago lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a large area of geological instability where the collision of tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and major volcanic activity.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
