Indonesia urges caution after seven eruptions from Merapi volcano in less than 12 hours

7 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Indonesian geological authorities have called for caution in the face of the recent activity exhibited by the Mount Merapi volcano, in West Sumatra and considered the most active in the country, which has erupted up to seven times throughout this Saturday.

According to a report by the Agency for the Mitigation of Volcanic and Geological Hazards (PVMBG), the first eruption began at 06:11 in the morning local time “with the expulsion of ash at 300 meters high.”

Later, according to the researcher Ahmad Rifandi to the official news agency ANTARA, the seismographs recorded eruptions at 09:44, 10:34, 11:35, 11:44, 12:30 and 14:51.

Rifandi explained that the volcano is under Level 2 alert status, which recommends visitors to exercise care and not come closer than three kilometers from the volcano’s crater, a sad memory for the population in 2010, when an eruption cost the lives of 350 people.

The acting head of the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Bambang Warsito, has asked the groups of climbers who are on the slope of the volcano to report their situation.