The mountain which is located near Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta, erupted twice in close succession and has spewed clouds of ash 6,000 metres into the air.
Residents have been ordered to stay out of a three km no-go zone around the crater, but other than that the alert status has not been raised.
Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanos worldwide. The last major eruption occurred in 2010, killing 300 and forcing the evacuation of 280,000 people.
