Tuesday Morning, Mount Semeru Vomits Volcanic Ash As High As 500 Meters

Mount Semeru, which is on the border of Lumajang-Malang Regency, East Java, erupted again with an eruption as high as 500 meters above the peak on Tuesday, March 19 at 06:25 WIB.

Officers of the Mount Semeru Observation Post in Lumajang, Mukdas Sofian, in his written report said that the eruption of Mount Semeru occurred on Tuesday at 06:25 WIB with an eruptive column height of about 500 meters above the peak (4,176 m above sea level).

"The ash column was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the northeast. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 125 seconds," he said.

The number of eruptions of Mount Semeru that had been recorded by officers was 120 times from January 1 to March 19, 2024 at 10:30 WIB based on data recorded on the Indonesian Magma page belonging to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

The highest mountain activity on the island of Java in the period Tuesday from 00: 00-06: 00 WIB recorded 23 earthquake observations with an amplitude of 11-22 mm, and an earthquake of 63-126 seconds.

Then five gusts with an amplitude of 2-8 mm and a long earthquake of 32-62 seconds, as well as three distant Tectonic earthquakes with an amplitude of 3-22 mm, S-P 16-70 seconds and an earthquake length of 57-113 seconds.

Mount Semeru is still on alert or level III, so PVMBG recommends that people are prohibited from carrying out any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan, as far as 13 km from the summit.

Beyond this distance, the public is asked not to carry out activities at a distance of 500 meters from the riverbank (river border) along Besuk Kobokan because it has the potential to be affected by the expansion of hot clouds and lava flows up to a distance of 17 km from the summit.

Then the community should not move within a 5 km radius of the crater/peak of Mount Semeru because it is prone to the danger of throwing stones (pijar).

The public is also advised to be aware of the potential for hot clouds, lava avalanches, and lahars along rivers/valleys that originate at the top of Mount Semeru, especially along Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar, and Besuk Sat as well as the potential for lahars in small rivers which are tributaries of Besuk Kobokan.