Mount Semeru Erupts With Volcanic Ash As High As 1 Kilometer

Mount Semeru erupted on CCTV on Friday (22/3/2024), at 20.59 WIB (ANTARA/HO-PVMBG)

East Java's LUMAJANG - Mount Semerudi, which is on alert or level III, experienced an eruption with volcanic ash as high as 1 kilometer at the top of the mountain at 20.59 WIB.

The officer of the Mount Semeru Observation Post, Ghufron Alwi, in a written report said that the eruption of Mount Semeru occurred with an eruption column height of about 1,000 meters above the top of the mountain as high as 4,676 meters above sea level.

"The ash column was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the north and northeast. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 138 seconds," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, March 22.

Previously, Mount Semeru also erupted at 17.21 WIB, but the visual eruption was not observed and the eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 121 seconds.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) provides recommendations related to the alert status of Mount Semeru, namely that people are prohibited from carrying out any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan, as far as 13 km from the summit (the center of the eruption).

Beyond this distance, the public is asked not to carry out activities at a distance of 500 meters from the riverbank (river border) along Besuk Kobokan because it has the potential to be affected by the expansion of hot clouds and lava flows up to a distance of 17 km from the summit.

The community should not move within a 5 km radius of the crater/peak of Mount Semeru because it is prone to the danger of throwing stones (pijar).

The public is also advised to be aware of the potential for hot clouds, lava avalanches, and lahars along rivers/valleys that originate at the top of Mount Semeru, especially along Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar, and Besuk Sat as well as the potential for lahars in small rivers which are tributaries of Besuk Kobokan.