Mt. Merapi spews lava

YOGYAKARTA: Mount Merapi showed increased activity yesterday, spewing hot lava in a radius of 1.5 kilometers from its cone.

Despite the rumblings, the daily activities of people living in villages at the foot of the volcano were unaffected.

Ratdomo Purbo, chief of the volcanic section at the Vulcanologist Directorate, said his office was continually monitoring the volcano, one of Indonesia's most active, since it had shown greater signs of life.

"In our last monitoring, we observed that a major landslide had occurred on the mountain's top and we expect it to continue to discharge hot lava," he said.

He said a number of small tremors had jolted surrounding areas as well. (23/44)