Indonesia’s Mount Merapi has erupted, spewing out smoke and ash that blanketed villages near the crater and forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the volcano, located in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta special region, erupted at about 12pm (05:00 GMT) on Saturday and unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to seven kilometres (4.3 miles) down its slopes.

A column of hot clouds rose 100 metres into the air, said the National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The eruption throughout the day blocked out the sun. At least eight villages near the volcano have been affected by volcanic ash, an officer at one of Merapi’s observation posts said.