Mount Merapi Launches 134 Lava Falls In A Week

PHOTO OF ANTARA/ MOUNT MERAPI DOCKS

YOGYAKARTA - The Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) said Mount Merapi, on the border of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, emitted 134 lava flows over the past week.

"Lava fall was observed 133 times to the southwest, dominant to the Bebeng River with a maximum sliding distance of 2,000 meters, and one lava fall to the northwest (upstream of the Apu and Trising Rivers) with a sliding distance of 300 meters," said Head of BPPTKG Hanik Humaida. in a written statement quoted by Antara, Saturday, February 5.

He said that based on observations from January 28 to February 2022, the active volcano was also observed to emit hot clouds twice to the southwest or upstream of the Bebeng River with a sliding distance of 2,000 to 2,500 meters.

Meanwhile, based on morphological analysis of the Deles5, Tunggularum, Ngepos, and Babadan2 Camera Stations, no significant morphological changes were observed, either the southwest or the central dome.

Hanik said the volume of the southwest lava dome of Merapi is 1,670,000 cubic meters and the middle dome is 3,007,000 cubic meters.

The intensity of the Merapi earthquake this week is still quite high. The deformation of Mount Merapi which is monitored using EDM also still shows a shortening rate of 1.6 cm per day.

This week it rained at the Mount Merapi Observation Post with an intensity of 167 mm per hour for 70 minutes at the Kaliurang Post on February 3, 2022.

"It was reported that there were cold lava floods due to rain in Boyong River and Yellow River," said Hanik.

BPPTKG still maintains the status of Mount Merapi at Level III or Standby.

The current potential hazards are lava avalanches and hot clouds in the south-southwest sector covering the Boyong River for a maximum of 5 km, and the Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng rivers for a maximum of 7 km.

Meanwhile, the southeast sector covers the Woro River for a maximum of 3 km and the Gendol River for a maximum of 5 km.

If the volcano experiences an explosive eruption, the ejection of volcanic material can reach an area within a radius of three kilometers from the top of the mountain.