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Indonesia's Merapi volcano erupts, spews massive hot clouds up to 7 km covering villages in ash

The volcano that erupted on Saturday, March 11, sent hot clouds 100 meters into the air and blocked out the sun, and blanketed villages with debris

JAVA, INDONESIA: Indonesia’s Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, dramatically erupted on Saturday, March 11. The volcanic eruption spewed hot clouds up to seven kilometers, which forced the government to halt all tourism and mining activities. 

The volcano located in Indonesia's Yogyakarta particular region erupted around 12 pm local time and sent hot clouds 100 meters into the air that blocked out the sun and blanketed villages with debris. Volcanic ash has impacted at least eight towns close to the volcano, an officer at one of Merapi’s observation posts said, according to Al Jazeera. However, no casualties were reported.

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Were the residents evacuated?

Residents in the neighborhood have been warned to cease all activity in the danger zones, which are located three to seven kilometers from the crater. “To anticipate potential danger from Mount Merapi eruption, the public is advised to stop any activities in the potential danger area,” agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement. Yulianto, a local monitoring station official, claimed that no residents had been evacuated. "This has only been observed as a one-time event, there have been 5-6 avalanches. If the coverage continues to increase and the distance is further than 7 kilometers, the residents will likely be recommended to evacuate," he said, according to Reuters.

The 2,963 meter-high (9,721 feet) Merapi is located on the heavily-populated island of Java, which is considered the world's most populated island, with more than 151.6 million residents. This was the most violent eruption of Merapi since 1930 when about 1,300 people were killed. Another eruption was observed in 1994 that claimed the lives of more than 60 people. Its last big eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and made 20,000 villagers homeless.

Why is Indonesia vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions?

With a population of 270 million, Indonesia is vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because it is situated along the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped network of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean. Mount Semeru, the tallest volcano on Java Island, erupted in December 2021, killing 48 people and leaving 36 more missings.

Mount Merapi’s eruption came just months after Hawaii's Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in 38 years. The largest active volcano in the world started flowing lava and ash after erupting in November 2022. The United States Geological Survey, at that time, tweeted, “Surface flows have come out of the caldera in past eruptions — that's not uncommon. It's magma going into the rift zones that is the real concern because that can develop into a serious situation much more rapidly," as per Newsweek.