The Merapi volcano in Indonesia, one of the most active in the world, erupted on Sunday, projecting gray ash clouds at 6,000 meters above sea level. Two successive eruptions occurred in seven minutes, according to the local geological agency. Authorities have called on residents to evacuate an area three kilometers around the crater north of Yogyakarta on the island of Java.
More than 300 dead in 2010
The agency however did not raise the alert level of the volcano but urged the planes circulating in the area to the greatest caution. Local media reported that residents of nearby Sleman and Klaten had heard rumbles from the volcano in the morning.
The volcano had already erupted last March, causing the temporary closure of Solo International Airport, some 40 km away. The last major revival of the Merapi, in 2010, had made more than 300 dead and forced more than 280,000 inhabitants to evacuate. It was the most powerful eruption since that of 1930, in which 1,300 people were killed.
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