Mount Merapi Dozens Of Hot Clouds Fall Due To The Landslides Of The Southwest Lava Dome

Drivers saw hot clouds falling from Mount Merapi from Boyolali-Selo Street in Cepogo, Boyolali, Central Java. (photo: dock. intermediate)

YOGYAKARTA - Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) said that a series of avalanche hot clouds from Mount Merapi occurred due to avalanches of the southwest lava dome of the volcano. According to BPPTKG monitoring, Mount Merapi on the border of the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java on Saturday 11 March from 12.00 to 18.00 WIB launched a hot cloud avalanche 29 times to the west with a maximum sliding distance of four kilometers. "The process is due to an avalanche of the southwest lava dome," said BPPTKG Head Agus Budi Santoso in a virtual press conference followed by Yogyakarta, Saturday, March 11, quoted by Antara. Mount Merapi has two lava domes that both grew. The first lava dome is located on the southwest side, precisely above the lava of the remaining eruption in 1997. The second lava dome, which was monitored by BPPTKG on February 4, 2021, is in the middle of the crater of the peak of Mount Merapi. The two lava domes, according to Agus, have the potential to cause massively hot clouds that can glide as far as seven kilometers to the southwest and five kilometers to the south-southwest. "This southwest lava dome occupies a tilted place so that it is completely unstable, so either under pressure (magma supply) from within or not, could suddenly (triggering avalanches). But internal activity shows there is pressure," he said. August said that based on the results of air photo analysis on January 13, 2023, the volume of the southwest lava dome was calculated at 1,598,700 cubic meters and the central lava dome of 2,267,400 cubic meters.

BPPTKG, Agus said, will again collect data using drones to check the last volume and dimensions of the collapsing lava dome. August also explained that the internal seismic activity of Mount Merapi, which includes deep volcanic, shallow volcanic, and multiphase earthquakes, is still high. This shows that there is still a supply of magma from within. BPPTKG still maintains the status of Mount Merapi at Level III or Alert because the potential for a magma release from inside the volcano is still high. While asking the public to remain vigilant, Agus believes that the effusive eruption activity in the form of avalanche hot clouds slides on Saturday will not reach residential areas around Mount Merapi. "The range of glides to the southwest is a maximum of seven kilometers, while what we know is residential areas in the direction of Kali Krasak up to eight kilometers," he said.