Mt Merapi in the evening of Jan 15, 2019.
© Hendra NurdiyansyahMt Merapi in the evening of Jan 15, 2019.
Mount Merapi, which straddles the provinces of Central Java and Yogyakarta, spewed incandescent lava nine times on Saturday, the Center for Technological Research and Development for Geological Disasters (BPPTKG) in Yogyakarta stated.

On its official twitter account, the BPPTKG recorded nine lava falls between 00.00 and 6 a.m. local time on that day.

The distance that the lava slid could not be observed, as haze shrouded the volcano. According to seismic data, the duration of the lava falls was 14 to 36 seconds.

Based on the morphological analysis of the volcano's lava dome released by the BPPTKG, the volume of lava falls reached 439 thousand cubic meters, with growth rate of 3,400 cubic meters per day, lower than that of the previous week.

The lava dome is still stable, with low growth rate, averaging less than 20 thousand cubic meters per day.

The BPPTKG continues to maintain the alert status of the volcano at level II (caution) of the four-tiered Indonesia volcano alert system.

The agency also called on local residents to not conduct activities within a three-kilometer radius of the volcano's peak.