Indonesia’s Most Active Volcano Merapi Erupts

The volcano blew up and the hot cloud swept up to seven kilometers of the surrounding area

The 2,963 metre-high (9,721 feet) Merapi is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes and was already on the country’s second-highest alert level.

New Delhi: Indonesia’s Most active volcano Merapi volcano erupted on Saturday (March 11) afternoon. According to reports the volcano blew up and the hot cloud swept up to seven kilometers of the surrounding area. Merapi volcano is located in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta special region. According to Reuters that the volcano erupted around 12 pm local time (0500 GMT) and a lava flow of 1.5 km was observed.

The 2,963 metre-high (9,721 feet) Merapi is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes and was already on the country’s second-highest alert level.

Residents in the danger zone that ranges between 3 to 7 kilometres from the crater have been warned to stop any activities in the danger zones, the statement said. Quoting the Official at local monitoring post, Yulianto, Reuters reported that no residents have been evacuated.

“This has only been observed as one time event, there have been 5-6 avalanches. If the coverage continues to increase and the distance is further than 7 kilometres, it is likely that the residents will be recommended to evacuate,” said Yulianto.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia has more volcanoes than any other country. Merapi last violently erupted in 2010, killing more than 350 people.