Geological Agency Asks Residents Not To Approach Mount Arjuno Welirang Crater

Archival photos. Mount Arjuno Welirang can be seen from the Pasuruan Regency, East Java. (ANTARA/Vicki Febrianto)

The Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) asked residents not to approach the active crater of Mount Arjuno Welirang which is located on the border of Batu City, Malang Regency, and Pasuruan Regency in East Java. "On the evening of August 22, 2023, a silent fire was observed at the top of Mount Arjuno Welirang," said the Daily Executor of the Head of the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Hermansyah in a statement in Jakarta, Antara, Friday, August 25. Based on visual observations made by the Geological Agency, from January 1, 2023 to August 24, 2023, crater smoke gusts were observed to be white with a thin to moderate intensity of about 20-70 meters from the summit. Instrumental monitoring using seismographs, he continued, showed the earthquake was still dominated by gusts and tectonic earthquakes and began recording intense volcanic earthquakes in early July 2023, but the number of earthquakes was still not significant. Hermansyah said that there was no recorded hot spot from the satellite image visual on Mount Arjuno Welirang. Based on visual monitoring from the monitoring post, there is no change, visual smoke is white, although it is occasionally seen with intensity thicker than before. The seismic data recorded on the seismograph also did not show a significant increase in seismicity. The earthquake is still fluctuating and is still dominated by gusts and tectonics. At the top of the mountain covered by sulfur is often mined by local residents. "The flames seen on August 22, 2023 came from the fire in the sulfur pile, not from the body's magmatic activity of Mount Arjuno Welirang," said Hermansyah. The Geological Agency stated that the level of activity of Mount Arjuno Welirang did not increase and remained at level I or Normal.

Mount Arjuno Welirang is a strato volcano with a height of 3,339 meters. The last eruption was recorded in August 15, 1952, for approximately five days on a scale of VEI 2.