The most volatile volcano eruptions in central Java in Indonesia have killed 38 people and forced about 70,000 people take shelter, officials said on Monday.

Photo taken on Nov. 1, 2010 shows Mount Merapi volcano spewing smoke in Central Java of Indonesia. Indonesia's volcano in Central Java is erupting again now on Monday, starting at 10:02 a.m. Jakarta time (0302 GMT) and spewing hot ash up to 1, 000 meters high, an official at Volcanology and Mitigation Agency in Yogyakarta said. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
All the fatality died in Sleman district of Yogyakarta province, 19,500 people have taken shelters and 12 other still suffers from serious injury in the province, according to data from main coordinating post in Pakem of the district.

The rest of the 49,912 people in Central Java province have escaped the affected area and 16 others suffered from serious injury, official at the National Disaster and Management Agency Furqon Hafid told Xinhua by phone.

Mount Merapi with 2,968 meters high is located on the border of Yogakarta province and Central Java province.

The volcano has frequently erupted since Oct. 26, unleashing gray hot ash and searing gas by up to seven km away, triggering panic of residence.

The volcano re-erupted twice on Monday.

Mount Merapi is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes. The Southeast Asian country lies in a quake-prone zone called the Pacific Ring of Fire, and now has 129 active volcanoes.

The previous eruption of Mount Merapi in 2006 killed two people. A 1994 eruption claimed 60 people's lives. A major eruption in 1930 killed more than 1,000 people's lives.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet