Mount Merapi knows how to get noticed. Indonesia's volcano, one of the most active in the world, erupted on Saturday, spewing thick smoke and ash. There were no immediate reports of casualties, Indonesia's disaster management agency (BNPB) said.
Houses and roads in a village near the volcano were covered in ash, footage from local TV station Kompas TV showed. The Merapi Volcano Observatory estimated that the ash cloud reached 3,000 meters above the summit.
More than 300 deaths in 2010
Authorities established a seven-kilometer restriction zone around the crater after the eruption. Residents of the surrounding area should also expect "disturbances" from ash and be alert for potential volcanic mudslides, especially if it rains near the volcano.
The last major eruption of this volcano near the city of Yogyakarta killed more than 300 people in 2010 and caused the evacuation of some 280,000 people. It was its most violent episode since the 1930 eruption, which killed about 1,300 people. In 1994, another eruption killed about sixty people.
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