Mount Merapi Sprays 2 Incandescent Lava As Far As 1.8 Km

YOGYAKARTA- The Center for Research and Development of Geological Disaster Technology (BPPTKG) reported that Mount Merapi released two incandescent lava flows to the southwest on Thursday, July 14.

The incandescent lava falling from the mountain, which is located on the border of the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java, slid 1,800 meters or 1.8 km to the southwest, starting at 00.00 to 06.00 WIB.

According to the Head of BPPTKG Agus Budi Santoso, during the observation period, Merapi also experienced 17 earthquake avalanches with an amplitude of 3-15 millimeters (mm) for 25.9-131.8 seconds, two earthquake gusts with an amplitude of 3-4 mm for 23.3-42.8 seconds.

Next, there were six multi-phase earthquakes with an amplitude of 3-11 mm for 7.3-13.5 seconds, and three shallow volcanic earthquakes with an amplitude of 27-74 mm for 8.9-17.6 seconds.

On Thursday, July 14 morning, Agus continued, the weather at Merapi was sunny and cloudy. The wind is blowing weakly to the west, the air temperature is 14-21 degrees Celsius with air humidity 68-95 percent, and air pressure is 627-686 mmHg.

"The smoke from the weak pressure crater was observed to be white with thick intensity and 50-75 meters high above the top of the crater," he said.

Based on the results of morphological analysis conducted by BPPTKG in the period 1-7 July 2022, no changes in height were observed, neither the southwest dome nor the central dome.

The volume of the southwest lava dome was recorded at 1,645,000 cubic meters and the central dome at 2,582,000 cubic meters.

Until now BPPTKG still maintains the status of Mount Merapi at Level III or Alert.

Based on the Antara report, the lava and hot clouds from Mount Merapi could impact areas in the south-southwest sector which include the Boyong River (a maximum of five kilometers) and the Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng rivers (a maximum of seven kilometers).

In addition, lava flows and hot clouds from Mount Merapi can have an impact on the southeast sector area which includes the Woro River (a maximum of three kilometers) and the Gendol River (a distance of five kilometers).

If the volcano experiences an explosive eruption, the ejection of volcanic material can reach an area within a radius of three kilometers from the top of the mountain.