PVMBG Flying Thermal Drone Monitoring Puncak Marapi Crater

A farmer in Agam Regency was active when Mount Marapi erupted. (ANTARA/Altas Maulana).

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) flew a thermal drone or unmanned aircraft to see the hot area around the crater of the summit of Mount Marapi which was experiencing an eruption.

"We flew the thermal drone but have not managed to get maximum results at this time, because of the strong wind. We will be flown back around the verbeek crater as the center of the eruption," said Head of the Mount Marapi Eruption Emergency Response Team from PVMBG Kristianto in Batu Palano, Agam Regency, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, January 16.

He revealed that the technical monitoring of the current condition of Mount Marapi was in an evaluation meeting on the alert of Agam Regency in Batu Palano which was attended by the Agam Regency Government, TNI and Polri.

"It's been a week that marapi's activities are at the alert level and show that activities are still high even though fluctuating is observed every day," said Kristianto.

The eruption of volcanic ash canals is classified in the high category to monitoring the hot temperature around the crater is important.

"The measurement of the hot temperature in the area around the crater will show which direction the eruption or gust of the eruption occurred," he said.

For the time being, from instrumental monitoring, namely seismicity, PVMBG noted that the gusts were still high with volcanic ash tending to the northwest.

"It's as if the trend is decreasing, but we are still categorizing it as high and the smoke gusts are relatively high with an average achievement of 500 meters to 1,500 from the summit," he said.

According to him, the ejection of incandescent material is still at a radius of 4.5 kilometers, so PVMBG asks for vigilance on the flow of cold lava to several areas upstream from Mount Marapi.

"Moreover, according to BMKG estimates, the rainy season will last until April 2024," he said.

PVMBG through the Volcano Observation Post in Bukittinggi City continues to monitor the development of Mount Marapi for 24 hours.

"The collection of volcanic material is still above the peak, the observation post is ready 24 hours for further information," he said.