Indonesia's Mount Merapi Volcano Erupts

One of the world's most active volcanoes, Mount Merapi in Indonesia, erupted on Saturday spewing out smoke and ash that blanketed villages near the crater.

Images at the site showed ash-covered houses and roads at a village near the volcano.

According to Merapi Volcano Observatory, the estimated ash cloud has reached 9,600 feat (3,000 meters) above the summit.

However, no casualties have been reported so far.

Spokesperson of Indonesia's disaster management agency, Abdul Muhari said, Merapi unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that traveled up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) down its slopes and a column of hot clouds rose 100 meters (yards) into the air.

"To anticipate potential danger from Mount Merapi eruption, the public is advised to stop any activities in the potential danger area," he added in a statement.

Merapi is located on Java Island near Indonesia's cultural capital Yogyakarta.

The volcanic ash has affected as many as eight villages near the site, an official at one of Merapi's observation posts said in a statement.

It may be mentioned that Merapi's last major eruption was reported in 2010 which killed more than 300 people and forced 2,80,000 residents to evacuate.

It was recorded as the volcano's most powerful eruption since 1930 when about 1,300 people were killed.

Later, in 1994 eruption , around 60 people were killed.

The country sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' with nearly 130 active volcanoes.

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