Indonesia’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted without warning early on Tuesday for the second time in a month, sending column of ash 6km (20,000ft) into the sky and blanketing nearby communities with ash and dust.
Authorities issued the highest aviation alert, telling pilots to avoid the area, while also establishing a 3km (1.8-mile) exclusion zone established around the volcano, amid the threat of lava and pyroclastic flows. Eyewitness footage from the scene shows the full extent of nature’s wrath.
The initial eruption reportedly lasted for almost eight full minutes and the nearby Solo city international airport was shut down temporarily as a precaution despite being 40km away from the volcano.
There were no casualties or damage reported and apparently, local residents are brushing it off as ‘just another eruption’.
“Residents are monitoring the situation, although they are going about their daily activities as per normal,” said Klakah village head Marwoto.
The last eruption at Merapi took place on February 13, and coated the entire landscape in ash for a time.
“As with previous instances, today’s eruption was not preceded by clear precursors,” said the geological center BPPTKG.
The volcano’s last major eruption in 2010 claimed over 300 lives and forced the evacuation of roughly 280,000 people.
Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a huge area of seismic and volcanic instability where tectonic plates collide leading to monstrous earthquakes and destructive volcanic eruptions.
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