Mount Merapi Erupts Twice in Eight Hours

Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, erupted twice on Monday, May 21.The volcano erupted at 1:25 am local time for nearly 20 minutes, and again around eight hours later – at 9:38 am – for nine minutes, the National Disaster Management Authority said on Facebook</a>.Twitter user @mimikridony uploaded the video above</a> after the second eruption.While volcanic ash rained down on several towns and villages around Merapi authorities did not raise the alert level.It was just 10 days ago, on May 11, that Mount Merapi erupted</a>, prompting the evacuation of nearly 200 residents living in a three-mile radius of the volcano and the temporary closure of Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta.The areas around Merapi, located on Indonesia’s most crowded island of Java, are heavily populated with farmers, who make a living off its fertile volcanic soil. The volcano’s last major eruption was in 2010, causing 386 deaths and more than 300,000 evacuations. Credit: Rafsanjani A.R. via Storyful