Grand Travel

Indonesia, Oct. 26. Indonesia's most volatile volcano is erupting, spewing plumes of hot ash and hurling rocks into the air, volcanologists say.

Officials say Mount Merapi, in central Java, began erupting just before dusk on Tuesday.

Scientists warn the pressure building up beneath its lava dome could lead to one of the most powerful blasts in years.

Thousands of residents living on the volcano's slopes have been evacuated.

However, a further 13,000 people need to be evacuated from within a 10-mile radius of the volcano, officials say.

PANIC

Television footage showed thousands of people fleeing the area, some covered in white ash, Agence France Presse (AFP) reports.

Many thousands of people have yet to be evacuated It is thought that 5,000 people live on or near the volcano.

On Monday, officials monitoring the volcano raised the alert for Mount Merapi to the highest possible level.

Since then, more than 600 volcanic earthquakes have been recorded around the mountain.

"We heard three explosions around 1800 (1100GMT) spewing volcanic material as high as 1.5km and sending heat clouds down the slopes," government volcanologist Surono, who goes by one name, told AFP.

He warned that pressure was building up behind a lava dome near the crater.

"We hope it will release slowly," he said. "Otherwise, we're looking at a potentially huge eruption, bigger than anything we've seen in years."