JAKARTA - Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano belched heat clouds and sent trails of lava running down its slopes on Tuesday, heightening fears of an eruption just days after a devastating earthquake nearby.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Merapi sent out 10 heat clouds and 120 lava trails, some of them two kilometers (one mile) long, said Tri Yani of the vulcanology office in Yogyakarta.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising some 900 meters (3,000 feet) into the air — nearly double the height seen the previous day. The area remains on high alert for a possible eruption.
Scientists have warned that although the magma flow which forms a dome at the peak appears to be weakening, the structure may collapse and spew out millions of cubic meters of volcanic rock and lava. » Read more after the jump →
