Merapi volcano news & eruption updates

Merapi volcano (Central Java, Indonesia) activity update: spectacular explosion recorded

Tuesday Mar 03, 2020 11:40 AM | BY: MARTIN

An ash column from Merapi volcano reached approx. 9,000 m altitude today (image: BPPTKG)

The Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG) recored that a spectacular explosion occurred on 3 March at 05:22 local time. An explosion at the Merapi generated a dense dark ash plume, which rose approx. 20,000 ft (6,000 m) above the summit and drifted NE.

Ashfall was reported in several areas downwind including Musuk (10 km N), Cepogo Boyolali (10 km N), Mriyan (3 km) and Boyolali (3 km).

The seismic station records 1 volcano-tectonic earthquake and 2 long-period events. Deformation did not show significant changes. These observational data indicate that nearing the eruption there was not enough pressure to form because the eruption material was dominated by volcanic gas.
The threat of this eruption in the form of hot clouds originating from the disassembly of lava dome material and volcanic material burst

Indonesia's most active volcano erupts, spews ash into sky

Indonesia’s most active volcano has erupted, spewing sand, smoke and ash into the sky

By SLAMET RIYADI Associated Press 3 March 2020

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia’s most active volcano erupted Tuesday, spewing sand and pyroclastic material and sending a massive column of smoke and ash as high as 6,000 meters (19,680 feet) into the sky.

The eruption of Mount Merapi on the main island of Java unleashed searing gas clouds 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) down its slopes, Indonesia's Geology and Volcanology Research Agency said on its website.


It said villagers living on Merapi's fertile slopes are advised to stay 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the crater's mouth.

Ash from the eruption made rain thick and muddy in several villages. Witnesses said the sound was heard 30 kilometers (18 miles) away.

The agency did not raise the alert status of Merapi, which already was at the third-highest level due to its ongoing activity.

The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) mountain is the most active of 500 Indonesian volcanoes. It has rumbled and generated dark hot clouds since last year. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 353 people.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 240 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines around the ocean.

Indonesia's most active volcano spews massive ash cloud 6,000m into the air
Eruption of Mount Merapi coated nearby communities with grey dust and forced an airport closure
Agence France-Presse
Tue 3 Mar 2020 
Indonesia's most active volcano spews huge ash cloud 6,000m into the air – video
Indonesia’s most active volcano Mount Merapi erupted on Tuesday, shooting a massive ash cloud some 6,000m (20,000ft) in the air which coated nearby communities with grey dust and forced an airport closure.
Ash mixed with sand rained down on towns as far as 10km (six miles) from the belching crater near Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta.
“There was a thundering noise for at least five minutes and I could see the ash clouds from my house,” said Jarmaji, a resident of Boyolali regency.

Volcano three-quarters blown away by Indonesia tsunami eruption
Authorities did not raise the volcano’s alert status, but they temporarily shuttered the international airport in Solo city – also known as Surakarta – some 40km away after the early morning eruption.
Indonesia’s volcano agency warned residents to stay out of a 3km no-go zone around Mount Merapi, citing possible danger from flowing lava and pyroclastic flows – a fast-moving mixture of hot gas and volcanic material.
Mount Merapi’s last major eruption in 2010 killed more than 300 people and forced the evacuation of 280,000 residents.
That was Merapi’s most powerful eruption since 1930, which killed around 1,300 people, while another explosion in 1994 claimed about 60 lives.
The south-east Asian nation – an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and islets – has nearly 130 active volcanoes.
It sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a vast zone of geological instability where the collision of tectonic plates causes frequent quakes and major volcanic activity.