Mount Semeru Erupts Again, Ash Column Soars 900 Meters

Mount Semeru erupted with an eruption height of 900 meters above the peak on Thursday, January 1 night. (photo: doc. ANTARA)

Lumajang - Mount Semeru, which is on the border of Lumajang and Malang Regencies, East Java, has erupted again with an eruption column reaching 900 meters above the peak on Thursday night, January 1.

The officer of the Semeru Mountain Observation Post, Sigit Rian Alfian, said the eruption occurred on Thursday at 18.37 WIB, with an ash column observed as high as about 900 meters above the peak or 4,576 meters above sea level.

"The observed ash column is white to gray with a thick intensity towards the northeast and east. The eruption was recorded on the seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 23 millimeters and a duration of 153 seconds," Sigit said in a written report received by Antara in Lumajang, Thursday, January 1.

Based on observation data, the highest mountain on Java Island has been recorded to have erupted four times in early 2026. The first eruption occurred at 01.26 WIB with a height of the eruption column of about 1,000 meters above the peak.

The second eruption occurred at 04.01 WIB with an eruption column height of about 900 meters above the peak or 4,576 meters above sea level. The third eruption occurred at 05.29 WIB with the same eruption column height, namely about 900 meters above the peak. The fourth eruption occurred again at 18.37 WIB.

Sigit explained that Mount Semeru is currently at Level III or Alert status, so the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has issued a number of safety recommendations for the community.

The public is prohibited from carrying out any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan as far as 13 kilometers from the peak as the center of the eruption.

Outside this distance, the public is also not allowed to carry out activities within a radius of 500 meters from the river banks along Besuk Kobokan because they have the potential to be hit by the expansion of the hot cloud and lava flow up to a distance of 17 kilometers from the peak.

In addition, residents are urged not to carry out activities within a radius of five kilometers from the crater or the peak of Mount Semeru because they are prone to the danger of incandescent stone throwing.

The public is also asked to be aware of the potential for hot clouds, lava discharge, and lava along the river and valley streams that flow upstream at the peak of Mount Semeru, especially in Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar, and Besuk Sat, as well as small rivers that are tributaries of Besuk Kobokan.