Source: INSIVUMEH [less]

The flows traveled about 1.5 km N and NW. The next day (10 Dec) the eruption stopped as indicated by the end of lava emission and seismicity and deformation measurements. [less]

During our latest expedition, we stayed on Erta Ale from early 25 Nov - 28 Nov. Upon our arrival, those changes very obvious. The lava lake had risen to the level of the former lower N section, the old terrace was gone, and the whole south crater was filled by overflows to the level of the lower old N-NW rim. Flows had indeed overflowed that section of the old crater circumference on a length of about 150m, or about 1 third of the old circumference. The still hot overflows had covered the outside caldera floor to about 50-100 distance, and one long flow, probably dated from 24 Nov (judging from its temperature) had almost reached the W caldera walls, as it followed the descending floor of the caldera in that direction.
The still active lake itself was circular, about 40 m in diameter (about 2 thirds to half its size observed in 2008 and 2009), contained within a low ring-shaped wall and extremely active. Degassing fountains kept the whole surface violently boiling most of the time. [less]

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When arriving in Yogya yesterday (12 Nov), an ash plume was rising above the crater for about 2 km and spreading out in a wide fan to the W-SW, covering the sky over Yogya, but not causing any siginificant ash fall. Life in Yogya seems more or less to be normal. At night, the lava dome shows almost no incandescence any more, and during 2 hours of observation, no visible rockfalls occured. This indicates that at present, the growth has calmed down or stopped. Strong ash emission continues, and the plume height seems stable reaching about 2-3 km above the crater. Visual observations are difficult most of the time, as Merapi is mostly hidden in clouds after around 8-9am. The airport remains closed. [less]

On 9-10 November, both craters were erupting dense ash clouds forming plumes of 100-1000 m height at typical intervals of 2-5 minutes. Often, these ash ventings were vertical fountains often lasting up to a few minutes. Some of the eruptions were more explosive, vulcanian-type and ejected many blocks, but were less intense than those observed in 2007 and 2009. At night, only few incandescent material was visible.
The activity dropped on 10 November in both intensity and frequency of the eruptions. A new small vent opened on the SW rim of the summit crater at around 11 am on 10 Nov, emitting a long-lasting ash fountain. This vent created a small depression on the summit crater rim. Later on, activity at this vent dropped and resumed intermittently such as from the other main vents. [less]

While the situation around Merapi remains chaotic, with an estimated 200,000 people being evacuated or fleeing their homes near the volcano, significant ashfall also causes major damage to life and infrastructure of the city of Yogyakarta itself.
The Indonesian government declared the eruption a national emergency, and announced $11 million (US) to compensate farmers who have lost their lifestock and have their crops destroyed. [less]

Local and foreign tourists are asked to stay away from the crater of Mt. Tangkuban Perahu.
"We are afraid that the volcano will erupt suddenly," Syamsul Rizal, a senior official with the directorate, is cited in the article in the Jakarta Post. [less]

Most of the new victims were caught by the so far strongest pyroclastic flow that reached the village of Argomulyo( -7.668635, 110.462992) in 18 km distance, where they were burned by the advancing hot surge and the following ash flow.
The evacuation zone has been extended to a radius of 20 km, and around 100,000 people are now evacuated, streching the capacities of the disaster management system to its limits. [less]

Flight routes in the region are being diverted to avoid the ash plume. The airports of Yogya and Solo remain closed. [less]

If that figure is true, it means that the scale of the eruption has reached a new level of magnitude: either a significant dome collapse took place or a very violent, vulcanian or sub-plinian explosion, or a combination of both. The first scenario alone seems unlikely given the short time the dome has had to grow so far, the eruption might rather be related to the ascent of fresh, gas charged magma.
The evacuation zone around Merapi has been extended to 15 km radius. [less]

It is estimated that around 50,000 people so far have been evacuated from the volcano. A 10 km safety zone around the summit has been put in place. Life in Yogyakarta is severely impacted by the amount of ash the city has been receiving (ca. 1-2 cm). The airport and other public functionsl buildings remain closed. [less]

While this might well be caused by heating of the volcano due to rising magma leading to a new eruption, Icelandic volcanologist say that seismicity under the volcano is still low. There are other possible caused that could explain the increase in melt water outflow, such as geomorphical changes in the drainage system allowing an increased discharge of accumulated meltwater on top of the volcano. [less]

Merapi seems back to its typical style of building a lava dome, which is now growing from the old 2006 dome, and tends to grow to the south east and to the south west." [less]

Ash falls were noted at Ust-Kamchatsk from 18:00 UTC on October 27 till 03:00 UTC on October 28. The airport and road from Ust-Kamchatsk to Kluchi were closed. The thickness of a layer of ash with snow was about 2 cm at Ust-Kamchatsk. According to satellite data, ash plumes extended > 2,500 km (1,550 mi) to the east from the volcano on October 27-28.
Powerful activity continues at Shiveluch volcano. Several ash explosions have reached 7 km (23,000 ft) asl on October 28. [less]

) we learnt that according to the monitoring scientist, based on deformation data, the southern part of the dome is growing fastest and at a current rate of 9-20 cm per day.
Some photos from the deadly eruption on 26 Oct have been posted here. [less]

(source: INSIVUMEH) [less]

KVERT reports tthat over the past week, two lava flows from the summit crater traveled down the SW and W flanks. Satellite observations show a large thermal anomaly and ash plumes drifting 420 km E and SE. Strombolian activity has been ejecting fresh lava to up to 250 m above the crater, and ash plumes rising to an altitude of up to 7.5 km (24,600 ft) on 20 Oct 2010.
An increase of activity was observed on 23 October: the ash plume reached 8-9 km altitude and drifted more than 300 km north. On 24 Oct, activity decreased a bit, but increased again on 25 Oct when ash rose to 8-8.5 km and drifted SE. [less]

Most other news sources, however, including Indonesian newspapers such as the Jakarta Post, do not mention these fatalities and only talk about injuries and a baby falling victim because of inhaling ash.
The VAAC Darwin reports ash reaching 60,000 ft (20 km) (!) in an advisory dated 19:45 GMT (26 Oct) and 30,000 ft (ca. 10 km) in a follow-up advisory at 19:50. Most likely, the altitude of the eruption plume is not easily detecteable and may be overestimated. Local sources speak of heights around 1.5 km above the crater, i.e. ca. 4000 m a.s.l. or ca. 12,000 ft. [less]

Authorities have begun to evacuate around 10,000 people living in the slopes around the volcano.
Merapi is one of Indonesia's most active and dangerous volcanoes, notorious for producing deadly avalanches of hot rock and gas (pyroclastic flows). Its last eruption in 2006 killed two people cought in such an avalanche. [less]

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