Panic as farmers flee deadly ash cloud

Sirens and loudspeakers blared, and people jumped into rivers trying to escape the heat, while others sprinted down the mountain or sped off in cars and trucks.

It was not clear if there were any new casualties, although an official said the ash cloud was not near populated areas. Explosions from Mount Merapi, in central Java, have killed 38 people in the past week.

The new blast came as rescuers hundreds of miles away were finally able to resume food deliveries and evacuate injured victims of a tsunami triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake near a chain of remote islands off western Sumatra.

The number of people killed in the twin catastrophes climbed to almost 500.

The notoriously unpredictable mountain had been mostly quiet after sending fiery lava oozing down its slopes, temporarily closing a nearby airport. The violent bursts and rumbling of the previous 48 hours were reduced to a mere murmur.

Despite the risk and warnings from officials, thousands of the more than 53,000 people who had been moved from the danger zone rushed back to check on their livestock.

"My farm has been destroyed by volcanic debris and thick dust... All I have left now are my cows and goats," said one farmer. "I have to find grass and bring it up to them, otherwise they'll die."

Since the eruptions began on Tuesday, officials have struggled to keep villagers off the slopes of Merapi, which means Fire Mountain.

Yesterday's eruption lasted 46 minutes but was smaller than previous ones. The mountain shot dust about a mile into the air and a cloud of hot ash a half mile down its eastern and southern slopes.

Heavy rain that fell during the eruption would reduce the spread of dust.

However, the rain also increases the danger of another larger eruption because water falling into the fiery crater can create sudden vapour pressure in the lava dome.