REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) confirmed on Friday that no casualties were reported following a phreatic eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia's Central Java Province. Head of the Data and Information Center of BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted that in a statement on Friday.

The Regional Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD) has continued to monitor the situation following Friday morning's eruption.

BPBD of Sleman has instructed residents living within a radius of five kilometers from Mount Merapi's peak, such as in Kinahrejo, to move to refugee camps.

Mountain climbers have also been advised to follow the safety regulation and recommendation following the eruption and to not hike near the mount's peak.

As of Friday afternoon, some 120 mountain climbers, who were about to reach the Pasar Bubrah climbing post, were reported to be unscathed.

The Local BPBD has also distributed masks among the local people since volcanic ash was forecast to fall on areas around Mount Merapi.

Reports stated that the volcanic ash had fallen at the Kaliurang Monument in Sleman, Yogyakarta Province.

Mount Merapi, located in the four sub-districts of Klaten, Magelang, Boyolali, and Sleman, experienced a phreatic eruption on Friday at around 7:32 a.m. local time, spewing ash and towering clouds of smoke 5,500 meters high from its peak.

Phreatic eruption is a steam-driven explosion that occurs when water beneath the ground or on the surface is heated by magma, lava, hot rocks, or new volcanic deposits.

The local authority stated that Mount Merapi's status remained normal at alert level I and set an exclusion zone of three kilometers from the mount's peak.

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