Tourism on pause as eruption rages on

Ruptured Earth: Lava flowing from Mount Merapi as seen from Cangkringan village in Yogyakarta. — AP

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

The volcano on the densely populated island of Java unleashed clouds of hot ash before midnight on Wednesday into Thursday and fast-moving pyroclastic flows – a mixture of rock, lava and gas – travelled up to 5km down its slopes.