Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano on Java erupted yesterday morning, sending a 6km column of ash into the air and triggering the closure of the airport in the nearby city of Solo, authorities said.
The volcano, located near Yogyakarta and Solo, is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes and a series of eruptions in 2010 killed more than 350 people.
Indonesia’s Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation issued a red alert and said the ash cloud was moving north.
Photo: Reuters / Antara Foto / Aloysius Jarot Nugroho
Adisumarmo International Airport in Solo was temporarily shut at 9:25am, the Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
Four flights had been affected, it said.
Yogyakarta’s disaster mitigation agency warned people to keep out of a 3km exclusion zone around Merapi.
Yogyakarta is about 30km from the volcano.
The latest eruption sent up a column of ash that affected several neighboring areas, the Indonesian Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Centre said as it warned of a risk of further eruptions due to continuing movements of magma.
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