Earlier this week the government raised the alert level at Mount Bromo to its highest level, telling villagers and tourists to stay off the rumbling slopes.

Government volcanologist Agus Budiono says the mountain, a popular tourist attraction, spewed ash more than 1,600 feet (500 meters) in the air Friday.

Mount Bromo typically erupts about once a year but unlike nearby Mount Merapi rarely spits debris and hot gas far from its crater. However, two people were killed in a 2004 eruption.

Merapi unleashed a series of powerful eruptions in the past month that killed more than 300 people.