Indonesia’s Mount Merapi continues to erupt, lava flows

Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Eruptions continued at Indonesia’s Mount Merapi on Friday, forcing officials to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano.
A volcano on the densely populated island of Java spewed clouds of hot ash Thursday morning shortly before midnight on Wednesday, and fast-moving pyroclastic flows – a mixture of rock, lava and gas – drove up to 5 kilometers from its slopes . Hanik Humeda, head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanoes and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, said it was Mount Merapi’s largest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November 2020.
Dozens of light eruptions continued through the day on Thursday, with a river of lava and a cloud of gas flowing 2.5km down its slope. There was no report of any casualties. Humeda said about 253 people were moved to temporary shelters, but returned to the volcano’s fertile slopes after activity subsided.
According to the Center for Geologic Disaster Technology Research and Development, Friday’s volcanic eruption spewed a column of hot clouds with an avalanche of incandescent lava 100 meters into the air at least 15 times. Using seismic and other data, the agency estimated that the lava spread less than 2 kilometers from the crater.
Eko Budi Lleno, head of Indonesia’s Geology and Volcanology Research Agency, said residents on the slopes of Merapi have been advised to stay 7 km from the crater’s mouth and be aware of the danger posed by lava.
He said the lava dome just below Merapi’s southwest rim and the lava dome in the crater have both been active since last year. The volume was estimated at 1.5 million cubic meters in the southwest rim dome and 3.2 million cubic meters in the crater, before partially collapsing over the past two days, causing pyroclastic flows to travel rapidly to the southwest flank.
“Our estimate is that the potential danger is no more than 7 kilometres,” Humaida said.
Humeda said authorities have closed at least five tourist attractions located in the danger zone 5 km from the crater and halted mining activities along the volcano’s rivers. Activities outside the danger zone remained open.
Mount Merapi is the most active of the more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has erupted repeatedly with lava and gas clouds recently. The Volcano and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center did not raise Merapi’s alert status, which was already at the second highest of four levels since the eruption began last November.
The 2,968-metre peak is near Yogyakarta, an ancient city of several million people in a large metro area. The city is also the center of Javanese culture and has been a seat of royal dynasties for centuries.
The last major eruption of Merapi in 2010 killed 347 people and caused the evacuation of 20,000 villagers.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity as it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
Its last major eruption was in December, when Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on the island of Java, erupted with fury, killing 48 people and leaving 36 villages buried in layers of mud. Many of the injured were severely burned, and 5,200 homes and buildings were damaged by the explosion.