Indonesia's volcano Mount Merapi emits hot clouds

Jakarta : Indonesia's most active volcano Mount Merapi emitted hot clouds three times as far as 1,600 metres to the southwest, the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center said on Wednesday.

"The first blast of the hot clouds occurred at 3:16 am (local time) with incandescent lava flowing as far as 1,500 meters to the southwest for 129 seconds," the center's head Hanik Humaida said.

Merapi blasted off the second hot clouds at 9:31 am (local time) as far as 1,000 metres to the southwest for 93 seconds while the third happened at 9:53 am (local time) flowing up to 1,600 metres for 121 seconds.

Located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces, the volcano is now in the status of third danger level.

The centre has urged people not to be in the danger zone within a radius of three km from the crater to keep away from ejections of volcanic materials.

Authorities also asked people to avoid lava flows and hot clouds flowing through rivers that stream down from Merapi such as Kuning, Boyong, Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng, and Putih rivers.