Eruption And Hot Clouds Still High, The Status Of Mount Semeru Has Remained Alert Since December 16, 2021

The activity of Mount Semeru was observed from the Mount Semeru Observation Post on Mount Sawur, Lumajang Regency, Sunday, December 4. (Between/HO-PVMBG)

The eruption and hot clouds of avalanches (APG) of Mount Semeru are still high. The mountain, which is located in the Lumajang Regency and Malang Regency, East Java, erupted again with avalanches of hot clouds falling on Sunday at 02.46 WIB.

"With an eruption column height of 1,500 meters above the peak," said Head of the Prevention Division of the Lumajang Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Wawan Hadi Siswoyo who received a report from the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), quoted by Antara, Sunday, December 4.

In the report, he continued, the source of hot clouds avalanche from piles of material on the tip of the lava tongue which is about 800 meters from the summit (Kawah Jonggring Seloko).

"The hot cloud avalanches continued and until 06.00 WIB the sliding distance had reached 7 kilometers from the summit towards Besuk Kobokan," he said.

The mountain, which has a height of 3,676 meters above sea level (MPdl), currently has a Level III (Alert) status since December 16, 2021.

The seismic activity of Mount Semeru on December 4, 2022, at 00.00-06.00 WIB was recorded as 8 earthquake eruptions, 1 hot cloud earthquake that still lasted until 06.00 WIB.

In addition to the potential for hot clouds to occur, the potential for lava flows is also still high considering the high rainfall on Mount Semeru.

Monitoring of deformations still shows an increase in pressure which shows that the magma supply process is still occurring in a magma and surface pocket.

"Monitoring the hot area (hotspot) shows an increase in the presence of thermal anomalies to 15 MW around the crater area which indicates that there is still a pile of hot material," he said.