Halbar's Ibu Mountain erupts, sending volcanic ash 1.5 km away

JAKARTA - Mount Ibu in West Halmahera (Halbar) Regency, North Maluku (Malut) again emits ash reaching 1.5 kilometers (km) from above the peak.

Officers of the Mother's Volcano Observation Post in West Halmahera, Axl Roeroe, said the eruption occurred on Friday, October 18 at 11.57 Wit.

"The ash column was observed to be gray with thick intensity leaning towards the northeast," he said in a written statement monitored from Ternate, Friday, October 18, which was confiscated by Antara.

The volcanic eruption, which is 1,324 meters high from sea level, was recorded on a seismogram with a maximum amplitude of 28 mm and a duration of ~ 1 minute 41 seconds.

Axl Roeroe explained that currently the status of Mount Ibu is still at Level III or Alert.

Therefore, he said, his party appealed to the community around Mount Ibu as well as visitors and tourists, not to move within a 4 km radius and to expand sectorally 5 km to the crater opening in the northern part of the active crater of the mountain.

"If ash rains, people who are active outside the home are advised to use a nose shield, mouth in the form of masks and glasses," he said.

His party, he continued, also asked all parties to maintain the conduciveness of the atmosphere in the community, not to spread false narratives (hoaxes), and not to be provoked by issues that have unclear sources, but always follow directions from the Regional Government.

The West Halmahera Regency Government should always coordinate with the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation in Bandung or with the Mount Ibu Observation Post located in Gam Ici Village, Ibu District to get direct information about the activities of Mount Ibu.