Thousands Defy Ash, Lava in Indonesia

(AP) - A volatile volcano in central Indonesia unleashed its most powerful eruption yet today, spewing hot ash and smoke thousands of feet into the air and sending panicked villagers racing back to emergency shelters. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Mount Lokon, located on northern Sulawesi island, has been dormant for years but rumbled back to life late last week. Surono, a government volcanologist who uses only one name, said today's 10:35am eruption released the greatest amount of energy so far, shooting soot and debris 11,400 feet into the sky. More»

Thousands evacuate after Mount Merapi erupts

(AP) - Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted again today with its biggest blast yet, shooting searing ash miles into the sky and forcing hasty new evacuations of panicked people from villages and emergency shelters. Soldiers loaded men, women, and crying children into trucks as rocks and debris hurled through the air and down the mountain's slopes. No new casualties were reported immediately after the booming explosion that lasted more than an hour. More»

Thousands flee erupting Java volcano

(NEWSER) - Twin disasters caused by activity in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" have killed at least 130 people in Indonesia. A tsunami triggered by an earthquake has killed more than 100 in an island chain west of Sumatra. Hundreds more villagers are missing. On the island of Java, the Mount Merapi volcano erupted just before dusk yesterday, killing at least 18 people and forcing thousand more to flee, the AP reports. More»

All 45 passengers on Sukhoi Superjet-100 thought dead

(NEWSER) - Searchers have found 12 bodies at the site of a Russian plane crash on an Indonesian volcano. The jet had been carrying 45; all are believed dead, the AP reports. The steep mountainside has proved a challenge to searchers, who climbed through a jungle toward the plane's wreckage using ropes. Rescuers are clearing trees in order to make room for helicopters to land; choppers haven't been able to retrieve the bodies thanks to a blanket of fog and the jagged, near-vertical slopes. More»

Column of ash measured 16K feet

(NEWSER) - Mount Etna is at it again: Europe's most active volcano burst to life again yesterday morning, spewing lava and sending a pillar of ash 16,000 feet into the air, ITN reports. Experts say there's no danger to nearby villages, however, and so far no flights have been canceled—though the nearby Catania airport did hold a crisis meeting to discuss the possibility, according to Sky News . More»