People have abandoned their homes in a bustling city of 400,000 at the foot of Indonesia’s rumbling volcano today, cramming onto trains, buses and rented vehicles as authorities warned Mount Merapi could erupt again at any time.

An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale struck west of the Philippines capital, Manila, today, seismology experts said.

Thousands of people were evacuated from the slopes of a volcano in eastern Indonesia after it spewed hot clouds of smoke, ash and rocks for a second day.

A two-metre tsunami has damaged homes and an hotel on Java island, witnesses have told a local radio station.

Indonesian officials today evacuated 11,000 villagers from around Mount Merapi volcano, as lava and superheated clouds of gas poured repeatedly down its upper slopes.