Mount Ibu In North Maluku Erupts, Residents With A Radius Of 3.5 KM Are Asked To Be Alert

Illustration - PVMBG recorded the eruption activity that occurred on Mount Ibu, Halmahera Island, North Maluku (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) noted that there had been an eruption with an ash column height of approximately 800 meters on Mount Ibu, North Maluku. Mount Ibu Observation Post officer Ahmad Basuki said gray volcanic ash with thick intensity leaning towards the north at 10.44 WIT. "The eruption was recorded on a seismogram with a maximum amplitude of 28 millimeters and a duration of approximately 1 minute 13 seconds," he said in a statement received in Jakarta quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 11. Ahmad said, the threat of eruption hazard is still far from the location of the residential area which is six to seven kilometers from the crater. Mount Ibu has held a level II or alert status as of December 10, 2013 until now. PVMBG noted that there have been 39 eruptions coming out of the crater of the most active volcano on the Halmahera Island, thus placing the position of Mount Ibu as the volcano with the highest number of eruptions number three in Indonesia.

PVMBG urges the public not to move within a two-kilometer radius and to expand sectorally within 3.5 kilometers towards the crater opening in the north of the active crater of Mount Ibu. In the event of ash rain, people who are active outside the home are advised to use the nose, mouth (mask) and eyes (glasses).