Mount Merapi Launches Hot Clouds 3 Times Falls, The Farthest Slide Distance Is 2.5 Km

Mount Merapi/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

YOGYAKARTA - Mount Merapi on the border of the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java three times launched hot clouds of avalanches with a maximum sliding distance of 2.5 kilometers to the southwest.

Head of the Center for Research and Development of Geological Disaster Technology (BPPTKG), Hanik Humaida, through his official statement in Yogyakarta, explained that the first hot cloud avalanche occurred at 14:56 WIB as far as 2,500 meters to the southwest.

"It was recorded on the seismogram with an amplitude of 45 mm and a duration of 145 seconds", she said, quoted by Antara, Thursday, December 23.

Furthermore, the second hot cloud was observed to glide as far as 2,000 meters at 15:17 WIB to the southwest, with a maximum amplitude of 20 mm, and a duration of 146 seconds.

Avalanche hot clouds were again observed coming out of Mount Merapi at 15:58 WIB to the southwest as far as 2,200 meters with a maximum amplitude of 35 mm, and a duration of 141 seconds.

Hanik said that when hot clouds came out of Merapi, the wind on the mountain was recorded as blowing to the west.

"This hot cloud avalanche is part of the Merapi eruption phase, namely there is a supply of magma, the growth of a lava dome, and the occurrence of avalanches and hot clouds avalanches", said Hanik.

Until now, the status of the volcanic activity of Mount Merapi is at level 3 or Alert.

The lava fall and hot clouds of Mount Merapi are expected to have an impact on the south-southwest sector, which includes the Yellow, Boyong, Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng, and Putih rivers.

When an eruption occurs, the ejection of volcanic material from Mount Merapi is estimated to be able to reach an area within a radius of three kilometers from the top of the mountain.