Indonesia’s Merapi volcano erupts again

Mount Merapi volcano on Indonesia’s Java island spewed ash more than 1 kilometre into the air on Monday, an official said.

The eruption lasted for six minutes but there was no order for local residents to evacuate as no lava was ejected, said Sutopo Nugroho, the spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency

The alert level for the volcano remained normal, he said.

Hundreds of people fled their villages to safer locations after an initial eruption on May 11.

A series of eruptions at Merapi killed more than 300 people in 2010.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area around the edges of the Pacific Ocean, susceptible to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The country is home to 130 active volcanoes.