Indonesia: Merapi continues to spew hot gases

Jakarta, Nov 3: Mount Merapi continued to spew hot gas clouds into the sky and rocks down its slopes on Wednesday, Nov 3. The lastest eruption started between 8 to 11 am, said media reports quoting a state volcanologist.

Merapi killed as many as 38 people last week when it erupted for the first time catching people off guard, while the country struggled to pull itself up from the devastation caused by a massive earthquake-trigerred tsunami.

Since then the mountain has continued to erupt as it boils with lava and releases hot gases and ashes blackening the skies.

Over 5,000 people living along Merapi"s slopes have been evacuated to government-run camps. On Tuesday, Nov 2 international airlines suspended operations as the ashes clouded visibility.

Volcano will continue to spew out gas and rocks for weeks, possibly months, easing pressure building up inside the crater, informed Safari Dwiyono, a state volcanologist.

“There"s no way of knowing for sure, of course. But based on what we"ve seen in the last few days, we"re hoping there won"t be a massive explosion," he added.

OneIndia News