In pictures: Indonesia’s Merapi volcano erupts, tourism pauses around region

Indonesia’s Merapi volcano erupted March 11, 2023, spewing avalanches of searing gas clouds and hot lava down its slopes. Mount Merapi is located on the densely populated island of Java and is one of most active volcanoes in the country. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people. No casualties have been reported due to the latest eruption so far. Photo: @BPPTKG / Twitter

On March 11, Merapi unleashed clouds of hot ash and fast-moving pyroclastic flows — a mixture of rock, lava and gas. The authorities were forced to halt tourism and mining activities, according to media reports. The pyroclastic flows travelled up to seven kilometres down its slopes and spewed a column of hot clouds rising 100 metres into the air. Photo: @BPPTKG / Twitter

The volcano also spewed avalanches of incandescent lava from the crater at least nine times on March 11, 2023, said National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari, reported news website India Today. The sudden eruption continued during the day, blocking out the sun, and several villages were blanketed with falling ash. Photo: @BPPTKG / Twitter

This was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November 2020, according to Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, reported daily The Times of India. Photo: @BNPB_Indonesia / Twitter

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean. The geological authority had raised the alert level of Mount Merapi to the second-highest of four levels since it began erupting in November 2020 and sensors picked up increasing activity. Photo: Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana