Mount Merapi - 'Mountain of Fire'

At least 64 people have been killed in the latest eruption of Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano - more than doubling the death toll since it became active again last week.

Dozens are being treated for burns and respiratory problems after a gas cloud hit villages with even greater force than the previous eruptions.

More than 100 people are now said to have been killed.

An estimated 75,000 residents have been evacuated from the area.

Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, is located in a densely populated area in central Java.

The latest eruption began late on Thursday, sending residents streaming down the mountain with ash-covered faces.

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We're totally overwhelmed here”

Heru Nugroho
Hospital spokesman
Rescue workers said villages in the area were in flames.

Indonesia contains more active volcanoes than any other country on Earth. Of the 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, Mount Merapi on the Island of Java is the most active. In fact, so active that annual offerings are made by the Javanese people to this volcano to placate its restless spirit. This conical stratovolcano's name, Merapi, is very appropriate as it means "Mountain of Fire". Typically Mount Merapi becomes active every two to three years, but large eruptions occur only every 10-15 years. In the past 500 years 68 large eruptions have been recorded. The most notable of these eruptions were in 1006, 1786, 1822 and 1872 when many people died. The lava flows, once basaltic, have in historical times become andesitic.

The present danger is increased because Mount Merapi is close to the city of Yogyakarta, a city of 0.5 milion people, and also thousands of people live almost on top ofthe volcano in villages as high up as 1700 m. A large eruption can therefore have devastating effects. In 1930 the eruption destroyed 13 villages and killed 1400 people in pyroclastic flows.