900 Meters Of Collision Of Soaring Ash, Semeru Sends Signals For Residents To Stay Alert

Mount Semeru, which is located on the border of Lumajang and Malang Regencies, East Java, was recorded as having four eruptions today with an eruption height of up to 900 meters above the peak.

The first eruption occurred at 05.58 WIB, with a column of ash about 900 meters high above the peak or 4,576 meters above sea level (masl).

The ash column is observed to be gray with moderate to thick intensity to the north and northeast. This activity was recorded as a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 millimeters and a duration of 123 seconds.

"The second eruption occurred at 10:38 WIB with a column height of about 700 meters above the peak or 4,376 meters above the peak," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Sigit Rian Alfian in a written report received in Lumajang, Antara, Friday, August 15 afternoon.

The ash column at that time was white to gray with thick intensity to the northeast. The eruption was recorded as a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 20 millimeters and a duration of 99 seconds.

The 3,676 mdpl high mountain erupted again at 10:44 WIB, with a column of ash as high as 800 meters above the peak or 4,476 mdpl, white to gray with thick intensity to the east. The eruption was recorded with a maximum amplitude of 21 millimeters and a duration of 106 seconds.

Then at 11.21 WIB, Semeru erupted again with the visual eruption not being observed. When the report was prepared, the eruption activity was still ongoing.

Mount Semeru is Alert or Level II. The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) recommends that people do not move in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan as far as eight kilometers from the summit.

Beyond that distance, people are prohibited from doing activities within a 500 meter radius of the riverbank along Besuk Kobokan, because it has the potential to be affected by hot clouds and lava flows up to 13 kilometers from the summit.

"People are also advised not to move within a three-kilometer radius of the crater or peak of Mount Semeru because it is prone to incandescent stones," said Sigit.

He asked residents to be aware of the potential for hot clouds, lava avalanches, and rain lava along the river that originates at the peak of Semeru, especially Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar, and Besuk Sat, as well as the tributaries around it.