Indonesia’s most active volcano erupted, sending a river of lava and burning gas clouds flowing 3,000 meters (9,850 feet) down its slopes.
The sounds of the eruption could be heard 30 kilometers away, officials said. No casualties were reported.
It was the largest lava flow from Mount Merapi since authorities increased the danger level in November, said Hanik Humaida, head of the volcanology and geological hazard mitigation center in the nearby city of Yogyakarta.
She said the volcano’s lava dome grew rapidly, causing hot lava and gas clouds to flow down its slopes.
After morning rain, the asphalt in several villages turned into a mess. More than 150 people, mostly elderly people, living within 3 kilometers of the crater, were evacuated to the barracks erected for displaced persons.
In November, authorities evacuated nearly 2,000 people living on the mountain in the Magelang and Sleman districts, but most have since returned.
The warning is being maintained at the second highest level and authorities have told people to stay out of a danger zone around the crater.
The 2,968-meter volcano on the densely populated Java island is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes and has erupted repeatedly. 347 people died in Merapi’s last major eruption, in 2010.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the so-called ‘Ring of Fire’ of the Pacific Ocean, a series of seismic fault lines.