WEST SUMATRA, Indonesia — Hot ash rained down on villages southeast of Mount Merapi after several eruptions just in the last month.
A resident captured a massive volcanic ash cloud shooting 7,800 feet into the air for almost four minutes on Sunday afternoon, according to the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency.
The photographer was upwind of the prevailing winds and escaped the falling hot ash. Officials have reported no fatalities so far.
There were four separate lava flows that traveled a little more than a mile down the slope, according to an Indonesian news agency.
The ash mixed with heavy rain and fog and soaked two villages with muddy, gritty rain.
A camera from the Center for Research and Development of Geologic Disaster Technology was obscured by the fog, ash and rain.
Mount Merapi is considered one of the country’s most active volcanoes.
The volcano erupts every two to five years.
Authorities have kept the threat level at three out of four since November 2020, according to local media.
Everyone is advised to stay at least 4.3 miles from the crater.
