Lava streams from Indonesia's Mount Merapi in new eruption

“Ash from the eruption blanketed several villages and nearby towns,” says Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.

Indonesia’s most active volcano erupted on August 16, with its biggest lava flow in months, sending a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 3.5 kilometers (more than 2 miles) down its slopes on the densely populated island of Java. The rumbling sound could be heard several kilometers (miles) away as 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.