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In Pictures: Indonesia’s Merapi volcano unleashes river of lava

Mount Merapi’s new eruption has set off its longest lava flow since the volcano’s danger level was raised in November.

Mount Merapi is Indonesia's most active volcano [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
Mount Merapi is Indonesia's most active volcano [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
27 Jan 2021
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The Mount Merapi volcano on Indonesia’s Java island has spewed searing ash and other volcanic debris that poured down its slopes on Wednesday, the country’s geological agency said.

Pyroclastic flows – a fast-moving mixture of extremely hot rock fragments, gas, and ash – blasted from the volcano for four hours in the early morning, according to the Research and Development Center for Geological Disaster Technology, which monitors the volcano.

There were no reports of casualties and the alert level remained at the second-highest level, it said.

This was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November, said Hanik Humaida, head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.

Authorities in November had evacuated nearly 2,000 people living on the mountain in Magelang and Sleman districts on Java Island but most have since returned. There has been no new evacuation.

The alert was being maintained at the second-highest level and authorities told people to stay out of the existing 5-kilometre (3-mile) danger zone around the crater as the local administrations in Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces closely monitor the situation.

The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) volcano is on the densely populated island of Java and near the ancient city of Yogyakarta. It is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently.

Merapi’s last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the ocean.

People look up at Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, as it spews rocks and ash. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
People look up at Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, as it spews rocks and ash. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
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This was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
This was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
A volunteer monitors Mount Merapi during the new eruption. [Slamet Riyadi/AP Photo]
A volunteer monitors Mount Merapi during the new eruption. [Slamet Riyadi/AP Photo]
A man sprays insecticide on his crops as Mount Merapi is seen erupting in the background. There has been no new evacuation since authorities evacuated nearly 2,000 people in November, most of whom have since returned. [Slamet Riyadi/AP Photo]
A man sprays insecticide on his crops as Mount Merapi is seen erupting in the background. There has been no new evacuation since authorities evacuated nearly 2,000 people in November, most of whom have since returned. [Slamet Riyadi/AP Photo]
Hot lava runs down from the crater of Mount Merapi, behind a mosque in Sleman. [Slamet Riyadi/AP Photo]
Hot lava runs down from the crater of Mount Merapi, behind a mosque in Sleman. [Slamet Riyadi/AP Photo]
The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) volcano is on the densely populated island of Java and near the ancient city of Yogyakarta. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) volcano is on the densely populated island of Java and near the ancient city of Yogyakarta. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
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It is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]
It is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently. [Agung Supriyanto/AFP]

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The geological authority had raised the alert level of Mount Merapi to the second-highest level in November after sensors picked up increasing activity [Taufiq Rozzaq/AP Photo]

Indonesia: Hundreds evacuated as Mount Merapi spews hot clouds

Authorities evacuate residents from the fertile slopes of the mountain as it belches hot gas and debris.

An eruption of Mount Semeru is seen in Lumajang, East Java Province, Indonesia [Antara Foto/Seno via Reuters]

Indonesia: Thousands evacuated amid rising activity in volcanoes

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Indonesian volcano erupts, forcing residents to flee

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Mount Merapi's last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and caused the evacuation of 20,000 villagers [File: Bay Ismoyo/AFP]

Hundreds evacuated as Indonesia’s most active volcano rumbles

About 500 people evacuated near Mount Merapi after authorities raise volcano alert to the second-highest level.

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