Throughout The Weekend, Mount Merapi Experienced 144 Falls Of Earthquakes

YOGYAKARTA- The Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) stated that Mount Merapi on the border of DI Yogyakarta and Central Java experienced 144 avalanches during the observation period on Saturday, December 25 at 00.00-24.00 western Indonesia time.

Head of BPPTKG Hanik Humaida through her official statement in Yogyakarta, Sunday, said that apart from avalanche earthquakes, during the observation period, two-hybrid or multiple-phase earthquakes were recorded, and four gust earthquakes.

Based on visual observations, it appears that white smoke is coming out of Mount Merapi with thin, medium, to thick intensity with a height of about 300 meters above the peak.

During the observation period, 30 incandescent lava avalanches were recorded from the mountain with a maximum sliding distance of 2,000 meters to the southwest.

Meanwhile, based on the results of morphological analysis in the period 17 to 23 December 2021, it was observed that the height of the southwest lava dome of Merapi reached 2 meters.

The volume of the lava dome in the southwest is recorded at 1,654,000 cubic meters and the central dome at 3,007,000 cubic meters. Until now, the status of the volcanic activity of Mount Merapi is at level 3 or Alert.

The lava fall and hot clouds of Mount Merapi are expected to have an impact on the south-southwest sector which includes the Yellow, Boyong, Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng, and Putih rivers.

When an eruption occurs, the ejection of volcanic material from Mount Merapi is estimated to be able to reach an area within a radius of three kilometers from the top of the mountain.