Merapi Volcano in Indonesia Erupts, People Rush to Flee Their Homes (VIDEO)

One of the most active volcanos in the country, Mount Merapi in central Java, has blasted a huge cloud of smoke and ashes 18,000ft into the sky, shutting down Adi Sucipto airport and forcing people from nearby villages to evacuate as quickly as possible.

Locals located within 3 miles from the eruption have had to flee, evading ashes, hot sand and pyroclastic material from the volcano, with many heading to barracks set up for the displaced.

People ON MERAPI when it erupted. Astaghfirullahalazim! pic.twitter.com/QAbctuLOpf

— Sir Zayn (@bingregory) 11 мая 2018 г.

Residents in Yogyakarta, a city of 2.4 million located 17 miles to the south of the volcano are not believed to be in danger.

Nuevo video de la erupción del Volcán #Merapi en Java Indonesia 🇮🇩
Tremendo susto se llevaron estos jóvenes escaladores tras la repentina explosión
May 11/2018
Vía @rasjogja pic.twitter.com/ibn9lGaOuD

— Geól. Sergio Almazán (@chematierra) 11 мая 2018 г.

The eruption, however, has not raised the alert status of the volcano, which remains at the normal level, with no eruption expected in the near future.

Gunung Merapi (Fire mountain in Indonesian) is a 2,968-meter (9,737 ft) volcano on Java and the most active of the Indonesian archipelago's 500 volcanos. In 2010, an eruption of the volcano killed 347 people and forced thousands to leave their villages.