Booming New Blast Erupts From Indonesian Volcano

The new blast came as Indonesia also struggles to respond to a tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The twin disasters, unfolding simultaneously on opposite ends of the seismically active country, have killed nearly 500 people and severely tested the government's emergency response network. In both events, the military has been called in to help.

Mount Merapi, one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, has killed 38 since it started erupting a week ago.

More than 69,000 people villagers have been evacuated from the area around its once-fertile slopes - now blanketed by gray ash. Even in the crowded government camps miles (kilometers) away, people still instinctively ran for shelter at the power of Monday's eruption, which was accompanied by several deafening explosions, said Subrandrio, an official in charge of monitoring Merapi's activity.

Merapi has erupted many times in the last two centuries, often with deadly results. In 1994, 60 people were killed, while in 1930, more than a dozen villages were incinerated, leaving up to 1,300 dead.

During lulls in activity, some villagers have returned to their homes to check on livestock and crops, but there were no indications any had been hurt in Monday's blast, said Waluyo Rahardjo, a National Search and Rescue Agency official.

As massive clouds spilled from the glowing cauldron and billowed into the air - continuing for nearly three hours after the blast - debris and ash cascaded nearly four miles (six kilometers) down the southeastern slopes, Subrandrio said.

More than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the west, meanwhile, a C-130 transport plane, six helicopters and four motorized boats were ferrying aid to the most distant corners of the Mentawai Islands, where last week's tsunami destroyed hundreds of homes, schools, churches and mosques.

The tsunami death toll had reached 450 by Monday, said Nelis Zuliastri from the National Disaster Management Agency, with the number of missing now less than 100.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said relief efforts must be sped up and expressed dismay it took days for aid to reach the isolated islands, though he acknowledged that violent storms prevented most planes, helicopters and boats from operating.