BMKG Deploys River Monitoring To Anticipate Cold Lava Floods Of Mount Marapi, West Sumatra

JAKARTA - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has asked to alert river flow monitoring officers related to Mount Marapi as a measure to anticipate lava floods and aftershocks in West Sumatra (West Sumatra).

The request is one of the recommendation points given by the Head of BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati to the leaders of the joint emergency handling team during a visit to five districts/cities affected by the disaster in West Sumatra, Tuesday, May 14.

He said the relevant authorities should immediately implement the recommendation because the duties and functions of monitoring are not trivial, namely as a sign that there is a disaster hazard in the field.

"It is their job to specifically see the flow of river water from upstream to downstream if suddenly it turns into more heavy, immediately empty the local area from the community or stop any activities," said Dwikorita when met at the Tanah Datar Regent's Office, West Sumatra, Tuesday, May 14, confiscated by Antara.

According to him, previously it was explained in the next few days, BMKG predicts that there will be the potential for further rain lava flooding from Mount Marapi.

This was triggered by the high potential for moderate, heavy and very heavy rain to fall over the next week or based on the analysis of the meteorological team which lasted until May 22, 2024.

Meanwhile, the rain has the opportunity to abort lava material deposits, small and large rocks, up to a diameter of 3-4 meters from the summit and slopes of Mount Marapi which have only erupted for some time.

The rain mixed with sand lava particles, the rocks made a concentrated flow capable of transporting a truck and destroying residential areas.

Based on a report from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) received by the BMKG, it reported that as many as 28 lava lines from Mount Marapi that originated in the river on the North, South and East sides of the volcano, including the Agam Regency, Tanah Datar, Padang Panjang which was hit by a disaster on Saturday, May 11.

"Hopefully not only during the disaster emergency period, but if possible, it will be permanent because the existence of river flow monitoring is a solution so that the weather forecast and early warning of extreme weather published by BMKG can be followed up directly by the community every day," he said.