A HUGE volcano has erupted six times in one day, sending an enormous 3,937ft column of ash into the air.
Dramatic footage shows torrents of mud from the eruptions racing through forests and towns, leaving devastation in their paths.
Chucks of debris are seen flying through the massive mud deluge as onlookers stare in disbelief.
Mount Semeru, in East Java, Indonesia, has been on a high level active alert for several years.
It is Java’s highest mountain and reaches a staggering height of over 12000ft.
It is also one of the country’s most active volcanoes and has a history of claiming lives.
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In December 2021, a devastating eruption killed 51 people and left several hundred others with severe burns.
It forced over 10,000 people to flee from their homes as whole villages were left buried in layers of mud.
After today’s spate of eruptions, Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation urged the public to avoid being within 8 miles of the summit.
Officer Liswanto said: “The public is also prohibited from activities within a 5 km (3.11 miles) radius of the crater due to the risk of ejected rocks.”
The gigantic volcano erupted only last month, sending a terrifying 54,000ft plume into the air.
The first explosion occurred on November 19 at 4:10am Western Indonesian time.
The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 142 seconds.
The mountain then erupted again at 5:09am, before a third and final one was recorded at 6:05am.
Pandemonium broke out over potential pyroclastic flows and lava avalanches.
Pyroclastic flows are mixtures of rock fragments, gas, and ash that travel rapidly away from a volcano.
They can be extremely destructive and deadly because of their high temperature – typically more than 800 degrees.
Last month, a long-dormant Ethiopian volcano roared back into life for the first time in 12,000 years, spewing a monster cloud up to nine miles high.
A massive ash cloud produced by the Hayli Gubbi sparked mass flight cancellation chaos across parts of Asia and India.
Back in Ethiopia, stunned resident Ahmed Abdela described a frightening scene to the Associated Press, saying: “It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash.”
Local administrator Mohammed Seid added: “While no human lives and livestock have been lost so far, many villages have been covered in ash and as a result their animals have little to eat.”