More people were evacuated from around Indonesia’s Mount Merapi today after the volcano had its biggest eruption yet.
Government scientists said the latest eruption lasted more than an hour and shot searing ashes several kilometres into the sky.
The government widened the danger zone from 10km to 15km, with about 3,000 people still trapped inside the zone.
The death toll since the volcano first erupted on October 26th has reached 42.
The massive blast endangered places that had not been not evacuated, as well as refugee camps.
Refugees who already fled when the mountain started to erupt last week were among those being moved hastily to safer areas.
On Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, relief workers are focusing on nursing and providing shelter for the survivors of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami that struck the island chain on October 25th. The death toll from the tsunami was revised down to 427 today from 431 yesterday, with 75 missing.