This Saturday Morning, Mount Semeru Erupted Again

On Saturday morning, Mount Semeru, which has a height of 3,676 meters above sea level (masl) located on the border of Lumajang and Malang, Java, erupted again.

Based on officers' records, the highest mountain on the island of Java has erupted three times on November 30, 2024, at 02.07 WIB, then at 05.50 WIB, and at 07.34 WIB.

"The first eruption occurred at 02.07 WIB with an eruption column height of about 500 meters above the peak or height of 4,176 meters above sea level," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Sigit Rian Alfian, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, November 30.

According to him, the ash column was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the northwest. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 20 mm and a duration of 128 seconds.

Then the second eruption occurred at 05.50 WIB with an eruptive column height of about 600 meters above the peak and a column of ash was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the west.

"The eruption of Mount Semeru was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 20 mm and a duration of 102 seconds," he said.

Mount Semeru erupted again at 07.34 WIB, but the eruption visual was not observed. When the report was made, the eruption was still ongoing.

He said Mount Semeru was still on alert status, so the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) provided a number of recommendations, namely that people were prohibited from carrying out any activity in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan eight kilometers from the summit (the center of the eruption).

Furthermore, outside this distance, people are not allowed 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 13 kilometers from the summit.

"People are also not allowed to move within a radius of three kilometers from the crater/peak of Mount Semeru, because they are prone to the dangers of throwing incandescent stones," he said.

In addition, the public also needs to be aware of the potential for hot clouds, lava avalanches, and rain lava 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 lava in small rivers that are tributaries from Besuk Kobokan.