I just looked at the map again and realized that there are two Merapis in Indonesia. I gave the figures for the Merapi on Sumatra. The one on Java is the currently active one. There are records in the Encyclopedia for that one going back to 1548. The only eruption listed greater than VEI-3 was a VEI-4 in 1872. Its frequent eruptions also help keep pressure from building up, we hope!! Incidentally, about 1/7th of the world population lives within the danger zone of a volcano. The rich soil lures them there.