Mount Merapi volcano eruption blocks out the sun as hot ash cloud blown four miles into the sky in Indonesia
LOCAL residents have been warned to stay away from their homes in Indonesia after a massive volcano began erupting.
Massive plumes of hot ash blocked out the sun after the volcano suddenly blew its top.
Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, which has over 147 of the lava spewing wonders, with 76 of them erupting regularly.
The country is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.
Merapi was already being monitored on the second-highest alert level in Indonesia before it erupted.
No residents have been officially evacuated from the picturesque villages but are warned to remain five or more miles away.
Officials at the monitoring post in a nearby village warned: “This has only been observed as one time event, there have been 5-6 avalanches.
“If the coverage continue to increase and the distance is further than 7 kilometres, it is likely that the residents will be recommended to evacuate.”
The eruption began late morning on March 11, and has been erupting throughout the night.
Glowing lava can be seen on a livestream YouTube video of the massive volcano.
Some reports have claimed the lava flow is a mile long.
On Twitter, one user showed that local flights were avoiding the massive ash cloud as they landed on Java.
They said: “The direction of Merapi ash is tracked through the Flightradar24 application.”
Some locals have reported road damage on Twitter which is allegedly slowing down citizens trying to leave the affected areas.
Merati is a stratovolcano, and has erupted regularly since the mid 1500s.
Stratovolcanoes can be more dangerous, as they’re built of layers of lava and ash.
This means when it erupts, hot ash can be expelled without warning, as well as deadly lava flows.
Merapi made headlines in 2018 after another large eruption, resulting in thousands of people evacuating their homes.
The 2018 eruption didn’t result in any casualties, and citizens only had to go 3miles away from the eruption’s centre, rather than the four recommended today.
The volcano hasn’t had a massive eruption since 2010, when more than 300 people were tragically killed.
280,000 people were forced to leave their homes after the tragic 2010 eruption.