Recently Indonesia's most active volcano exploded with its biggest lava flow, sending a river of lava down its slopes on the densely populated island of Java. The rumbling sound could be heard several miles away as Mount Merapi erupted, sending hot ash 600 meters (nearly 2,000 feet) into the sky. Ash blanketed nearby towns, but long-established evacuation orders are in place near the volcano, and no casualties were reported.
It was Merapi's biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level last November, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center. She said the lava dome just beneath Merapi's southwest side and the lava head in the crater both have been active since the end of July. The southwest rim dome volume was estimated at 1.8 million cubic meters (66.9 million cubic feet) and about 3 meters (9.8 feet) tall before partially collapsing Monday morning, sending pyroclastic flows travelled fast down the southwest flank at least twice.
Let us tell you that the searing gas and lava travelled up to 1.5 mile southwest at least twice more during the day. The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) peak is near Yogyakarta, an ancient city of several hundred thousand people embedded in a large metro area on the island of Java. The city is a center of Javanese culture and a seat of royal dynasties going back centuries.
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