Smoke rises from Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano, as seen from an agricultural field at Balongan village in Sleman on March 3, 2022. (DEVI RAHMAN / AFP)

JAKARTA - Indonesia's Merapi volcano erupted overnight, sending hot lava and ash down its slopes and prompting over 250 residents in the surrounding area to evacuate, the country's disaster mitigation agency said on Thursday.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia has more volcanoes than any other country

Merapi spewed hot clouds - a mixture of ash and volcanic materials - that flowed 5km down its slopes between near midnight and 2 am local time Thursday, Indonesia's geological agency said on Twitter.

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BNPB said 253 residents around the volcano in the Yogyakarta province of Indonesia were evacuated, while ash blanketed some villages. No casualties were immediately reported.

The agency said the latest hot cloud was sent down the volcano's southeast slope at 7.33 am local time on Thursday.

Potential dangers include more lava flows and hot clouds, BNPB said, warning people living within 7km of the volcano to keep away.

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The 2,963 metre-high Merapi is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes and was already on the country's second-highest alert level.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia has more volcanoes than any other country. Merapi last violently erupted in 2010, killing more than 350 people.

In December, the Semeru volcano in East Java province erupted, killing nearly 60 people.