JAKARTA: In the past 24 hours, Mount Merapi -- one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia -- erupted 16 times, releasing incandescent lava up to 1,800 m, according to the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG)."The lava was released towards Bebeng River up to 1,800 m. White smoke of medium intensity reached as high as 50 m above the top of the crater," said Mount Merapi Monitoring Post officer Ahmad Sopari late Wednesday.

Lava flows and hot clouds are potentially hazardous at this time, Xinhua news agency quoted the officer as saying.

People are asked to avoid a 7 km radius in the south-southwest sector and a 5 km radius in the southeast sector of the summit, Sopari added.

Located on the border of the provinces of Central Java and Yogyakarta, Mount Merapi is now at the third dangerous level.

A major eruption of Merapi in 2010 killed 353 people and displaced over 20,000 residents.

Since 2010, Merapi had experienced several smaller eruptions, most noticeably two phreatic eruptions which occurred in November 2013 and May 2018.