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Agencies

Indonesian authorities raised the alert for the volatile Mount Merapi volcano on the densely populated island of Java and ordered people within 3 kilometres (2 miles) to evacuate.
Merapi has erupted four times since Monday, sending out a 3,500 metre (11,483 feet) column of volcanic material and dusting the surrounding region in ash.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the national disaster mitigation agency’s spokesman, said some 660 people living within the exclusion zone have evacuated since early Tuesday.
Indonesia’s geological agency raised Merapi’s alert from normal to “beware” because of its increased activity.

The disaster agency described Merapi’s eruptions as phreatic, which means magma heats up groundwater and vapour is released under pressure.
This month, the airport in Yogyakarta, the closest city to the volcano, was briefly shut down because of the eruptions.
There have been no reports of casualties and operations at the airport have not been affected since.

The 2,968m mountain is about 30km from the Yogyakarta city centre.
About a quarter million people live within a 10km radius of the volcano, according to figures from authorities in surrounding districts. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and caused the evacuation of 20,000 villagers.
Through the ages, Indonesians have tilled the fertile volcanic soil on the mountain’s slopes and more recently the volcano has become a tourist site.
Nugroho said climbing on Merapi was prohibited and only disaster agency personnel or related researchers should enter the restricted area.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 250 million people, sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Indonesian government seismologists monitor more than 120 active volcanoes.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Volcanoes

Mount Merapi eruption 2018: people ordered to stay away as Indonesia’s most active volcano rumbles

A series of eruptions at Mount Merapi in 2010 killed almost 350 people and authorities are taking no chances

A car is covered by ash from the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Monday, May 21, 2018. Indonesia's most volatile volcano spewed smoke and ash early Monday in the latest of several eruptions in less than two weeks. (AP Photo/Ombak Samudra)

A man watches as Mount Merapi spews volcanic smoke in Yogyakarta on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Japan’s Mount Shimmoe volcano cakes city in ash day after first explosive eruption in seven years

In Kirishima city at the foot of the volcano, pedestrians wore surgical masks or covered their noses with hand towels, while others used umbrellas to protect from falling ash

Photo taken in Kirishima on March 6, 2018, shows volcanic ash blanketing a hot spring resort area about 6 kilometers from Mt. Shinmoe, a volcano on Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu that erupted violently the same day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Cars and buildings are covered with volcanic ash after Mount Shinmoedake erupted, in Kirishima city, 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the volcano, Tuesday, March 6, 2018. The volcano erupted violently several times Tuesday, shooting up ash and smoke up to 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) in its biggest explosion since 2011, the Meteorological Agency said. (Takuto Kaneko/Kyodo News via AP)

Photo taken in Kirishima on March 6, 2018, shows cars covered with volcanic ash from nearby Mt. Shinmoe, a volcano on Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu that erupted violently the same day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

An aerial view shows Mount Shinmoe erupting. Photo: Kyodo

‘Red notice’ warning for airlines as Indonesia’s Sinabung volcano unleashes towering column of ash

In 2010, the 2,460-metre volcano erupted for the first time in more than 400 years. It erupted again in 2014 and has remained highly active ever since

Ash from Mount Sinabung volcano rises to an approximate height of 5,000 meters during an eruption in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

Mudflows threaten locals near erupting Philippine volcano

Lava flows from the crater of Mount Mayon. Photo: Reuters

epa06477274 A Filipino villager walks past a police checkpoint at the slope of rumbling Mayon volcano in Legaspi city, Albay province, Philippines, 27 January 2018. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) warned residents to look out for possible flow of volcanic deposits or materials mixed with water from the slopes of Mayon volcano, as heavy rains hit the province. Close to 80,000 people were evacuated from the neighborhood of the Mayon volcano in eastern Philippines after it spewed lava leading to fears of a stronger eruption. The new eruptions in Mayon, situated in the Albay province around 350 kilometers southeast of Manila, took place between midnight and 3 pm local time, according to The Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (PHIVOLCS). The crater spewed 3,000 meter-high ash plumes and lava that stretched more than 3 km from the crater. EPA-EFE/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

epa06477283 Filipino villagers work during a downpour at a flood control facility at the slope of rumbling Mayon Volcano in Legaspi City, Albay province, Philippines, 27 January 2018. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) warned residents to look out for possible flow of volcanic deposits or materials mixed with water from the slopes of Mayon volcano, as heavy rains hit the province. Close to 80,000 people were evacuated from the neighborhood of the Mayon volcano in eastern Philippines after it spewed lava leading to fears of a stronger eruption. The new eruptions in Mayon, situated in the Albay province around 350 kilometers southeast of Manila, took place between midnight and 3 pm local time, according to The Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (PHIVOLCS). The crater spewed 3,000 meter-high ash plumes and lava that stretched more than 3 km from the crater. EPA-EFE/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

epa06477340 Filipino villagers view a damaged road following a flash flood at the slope of the rumbling Mayon Volcano in the town of Daraga, Albay province, Philippines, 27 January 2018. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) warned residents to look out for possible flow of volcanic deposits or materials mixed with water from the slopes of the Mayon Volcano, as heavy rains hit the province. Close to 80,000 people were evacuated from the neighborhood of the Mayon volcano in eastern Philippines after it spewed lava leading to fears of a stronger eruption. The new eruptions in Mayon, situated in the Albay province around 350 kilometers (217 miles) southeast of Manila, took place between midnight and 3 pm local time, according to The Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (PHIVOLCS). The crater spewed 3,000 meter-high (9,800 feet) ash plumes and lava that stretched more than 3 km from the crater. EPA-EFE/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

One soldier dead, dozens evacuated after volcano erupts at Japanese resort, raining hot boulders on skiers

Ash and volcanic rocks cover the summit of Mt Kusatsu-Shirane after Tuesday's volcanic eruption. Photo: NHK

Fire trucks and ambulances are parked at a ski resort in Kusatsu, central Japan, after Mount Kusatsu-Shirane erupted Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. A disaster official said the volcano erupted and caused avalanche near the ski resort. (Suo Takekuma/Kyodo News via AP)

A smashed and blackened ski gondola at the summit of Mt Kusatsu-Shirane after Tuesday's volcanic eruption. Photo: NHK

Smoke rises from the summit of Mt Kusatsu-Shirane after Tuesday's volcanic eruption. Photo: NHK

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on January 23, 2018, shows the area surrounding Mt. Kusatsushirane (top, L) in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, which erupted on the same day. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN.

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Asia

Southeast Asia

A series of eruptions at Mount Merapi in 2010 killed almost 350 people and authorities are taking no chances


Indonesia