Mount Semeru Erupts Again: Launches Hot Clouds As Far As Three Kilometers

JAKARTA - Mount Semeru, which is on the border of Lumajang Regency with Malang, East Java, experienced an eruption accompanied by a 3-kilometer hot cloud slide on Saturday at 17:34 WIB.

"The eruption was accompanied by hot clouds with a sliding distance of 3 kilometers from the summit to the southeast," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Sigit Rian Alfian in a written statement received in Lumajang Regency.

According to him, the eruption of Mount Semeru occurred on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 17:34 WIB with an eruption column height of about 800 meters above the peak or 4,476 meters above sea level (masl).

"The ash column was observed to be gray with thick intensity to the northwest. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 23 mm and a duration of 176 seconds," he said as quoted by Antara.

Meanwhile, the Head of Emergency and Logistics Division of the Lumajang Regency BPBD, Yudi Cahyono, said that the eruption accompanied by the launch of hot clouds as far as 3 kilometers was still safe and far from residential areas because the red zone area had been sterile from settlements.

"We continue to monitor in the field and coordinate with the officers of the Mount Semeru Observation Post regarding the development of the highest mountain activity on the island of Java," he said.

He explained that Mount Semeru is still on Alert or Level III status, so PVMBG provides recommendations so that people do not carry out any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan, as far as 13 km from the summit (the center of the eruption).

Beyond this distance, the community does not 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 residents are also prohibited from doing activities within a 5 km radius from the crater/peak of Mount Semeru because they are prone to the danger of throwing stones (pijar).

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