Lava Flows as Indonesia’s Mount Merapi Continues to Erupt

Lava flows down from the crater of Mount Merapi seen from Cangkringan village in Sleman, Yogyakarta, early Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP)
Lava flows down from the crater of Mount Merapi seen from Cangkringan village in Sleman, Yogyakarta, early Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP)
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Lava Flows as Indonesia’s Mount Merapi Continues to Erupt

Lava flows down from the crater of Mount Merapi seen from Cangkringan village in Sleman, Yogyakarta, early Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP)
Lava flows down from the crater of Mount Merapi seen from Cangkringan village in Sleman, Yogyakarta, early Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP)

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi continued to erupt Friday, forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano.

The volcano on the densely populated island of Java unleashed clouds of hot ash shortly before midnight Wednesday into early morning Thursday and fast-moving pyroclastic flows — a mixture of rock, lava and gas — traveled up to 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) down its slopes. It was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November 2020, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.

Dozens of light eruptions continued during the day Thursday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) down its slopes. No casualties were reported. About 253 people were evacuated to temporary shelters but they returned to the volcano’s fertile slopes after the activity subsided, Humaida said.

The volcano eruption on Friday spewed a column of hot clouds rising 100 meters (yards) into the air with avalanches of incandescent lava at least 15 times, according to the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center. Using seismic and other data, the agency estimated the lava spread less then 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the crater.

Eko Budi Lelono, who heads Indonesia’s Geology and Volcanology Research Agency, said residents living on Merapi’s slopes were advised to stay 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away from the crater’s mouth and should be aware of the danger posed by lava.

He said the lava dome just below Merapi’s southwest rim and the lava dome in the crater both have been active since last year. The volume was estimated at 1.5 million cubic meters in the southwest rim dome and 3.2 million cubic meters in the crater before partially collapsing in the past two days, sending pyroclastic flows traveling fast down the southwest flank.

“We estimate the potential danger is not more than 7 kilometers,” Humaida said.

Authorities have closed at least five tourism attractions located within the danger zone of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the crater and halted mining activities along the volcano’s rivers, Humaida said. Activities out of the danger zone remained open.

Mount Merapi is the most active of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently. The Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center did not raise Merapi’s alert status, which already was at the second-highest of four levels since it began erupting last November.

The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) peak is near Yogyakarta, an ancient city of several hundred thousand people embedded in a large metro area. The city is also a center of Javanese culture and a seat of royal dynasties going back centuries.

Merapi’s last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and caused the evacuation of 20,000 villagers.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

Its last major eruption was in December, when Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on Java island, erupted with fury and left 48 people dead and 36 missing in villages that were buried in layers of mud. Several of the injured had serious burns, and the eruption damaged 5,200 houses and buildings.



SpaceX Starship Explodes During Routine Test

Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS
Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS
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SpaceX Starship Explodes During Routine Test

Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS
Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS

One of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starships exploded during a routine test late Wednesday in Texas, law enforcement said, in the latest setback to the billionaire's dream of turning humanity into an interplanetary species.

The Starship 36 suffered "catastrophic failure and exploded" at the Starbase launch facility shortly after 11:00 pm (0400 GMT Thursday), a Facebook post by the Cameron County authorities said, according to AFP.

A video shared with the post showed the megarocket attached to the launch arm, and then a flash and a towering, fiery explosion.

Musk's Space X said the rocket was preparing for the tenth flight test when it "experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase," without elaborating on the nature of the complication.

"A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for," Space X added on social media.

"There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue."

The Starship was not scheduled for launch on Wednesday evening when the explosion occurred during a "routine static fire test," according to the Cameron County authorities.

During a static fire, part of the procedures preceding a launch, the Starship's Super Heavy booster would be anchored to the ground to prevent it from lifting off during the test-firing.

Starbase on the south Texas coast, near the border with Mexico, is the headquarters for Musk's space project.

Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket and central to Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars.

The Starship is billed as a fully reusable rocket with a payload capacity of up to 150 metric tons.

The latest setback follows an explosion of a prototype Starship over the Indian Ocean in late May.

The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built had lifted off on May 27 from the Starbase facility, but the first-stage Super Heavy booster blew up instead of executing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The previous two outings also ended poorly, with the upper stage disintegrating over the Caribbean.

But the failures will likely do little to dent Musk's spacefaring ambitions.

SpaceX has been betting that its "fail fast, learn fast" ethos, which has helped it dominate commercial spaceflight, will eventually pay off.

The company has caught the Super Heavy booster in the launch tower's giant robotic arms three times -- a daring engineering feat it sees as key to rapid reusability and slashing costs.

NASA is also increasingly reliant on SpaceX, whose Dragon spacecraft is vital for ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in early May approved an increase in annual Starship rocket launches from five to 25, stating that the increased frequency would not adversely impact the environment.

The decision overruled objections from conservation groups who had warned the expansion could endanger sea turtles and shorebirds.