clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk   
Last Updated: Thursday, 8 June 2006, 05:51 GMT 06:51 UK
Java volcano increases activity
Mt Merapi emits plumes of smoke

Indonesia's Mount Merapi has been showing increasing activity, emitting large gas clouds and sending more than 15,000 villagers fleeing to safety.

The volcano has spewed out its largest gas cloud yet, experts said.

The volcano has been in what scientists call the early stages of eruption for weeks, sporadically belching out thick clouds of toxic gas, ash and red hot lava.

But there was a noticeable increase in its activity on Thursday, when it sent a cloud of hot gas 4.5 km (3 miles) down its southern slope, the furthest such clouds have reached so far.

The volcano also sent a series of other gas and ash clouds, as well as lava flows, streaming down the mountain in different directions during the course of the morning.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey, in Jakarta, says parts of the crater wall have collapsed, allowing lava to escape from different points and forcing the authorities to rethink which villages are now most at risk.

At least 15,000 people are reported to have fled from the southern and western flanks of the volcano on Thursday, heading to nearby towns.