Mount Merapi Issues 144 Lava Falls In A Week

JAKARTA - Mount Merapi on the border of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) recorded 144 lava avalanches during observations August 18-24, 2023.

Head of the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) Agus Budi Santoso said the lava avalanche covered six times upstream of Boyong River as far as a maximum of 1,500 meters, and 138 times upstream of Bebeng River as far as a maximum of 1,800 meters.

"The sound of avalanches was heard 27 times from the Babadan Post with small to moderate intensity," he said, quoting Antara.

Based on observations through the Babadan Post on August 20, 2023, there was white smoke with thin to thick thickness, weak to moderate pressure as high as 400 meters above Mount Merapi.

He said that based on morphological analysis from the Deles5 camera station, Tunggullarum, Ngepos, and Babadan2, it was observed that there was a change in morphology in the southwest dome of Mount Merapi which was triggered by growth activity and lava avalanches.

Significant changes were not observed for the central dome.

Based on the results of air photos on August 10, 2023, Agus said, the volume of the southwest dome of Mount Merapi was measured at 2,764,300 cubic meters and the middle dome was 2,369,800 cubic meters.

The intensity of the earthquake of Mount Merapi over the past week, he continued, was higher than a week ago.

During that period, Mount Merapi experienced 139 shallow volcanic earthquakes, 780 multi-phase earthquakes, 10 low-frequency earthquakes, 969 avalanches, and 13 tectonic earthquakes.

The deformation of Mount Merapi, which was monitored using EDM this week, shows a shorten in the distance of two centimeters per day.

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

The potential danger of lava avalanches and hot clouds from avalanches could have an impact on Woro River up to three kilometers from the summit and Gendol River to five kilometers from the summit.

In addition, lava avalanches and hot clouds of avalanches can have an impact on the Boyong River up to five kilometers from the summit as well as the Bedog, Krasak, and Bebeng rivers up to seven kilometers from the summit.

If there is an explosive eruption, he said, then the ejection of volcanic material from Mount Merapi can reach an area within a radius of three kilometers from the top of the mountain.