Monday Morning, Mount Semeru Erupted With Volcanic Ash Eruption

Mount Semeru erupted on Monday (6/5/2024) at 05.43 WIB. (ANTARA)

Mount Semeru, which has a height of 3,676 meters above sea level (masl) on the border of Lumajang Regency with Malang, East Java (East Java), erupted again accompanied by an eruption of volcanic ash on Monday, May 6, 2024.

"There was an eruption of Mount Semeru on Monday 6 May 2024 at 05.43 WIB with an eruption column height of about 700 meters above the peak or about 4,376 meters above sea level," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Mukdas Sofian in a written statement received as quoted by ANTARA, Monday 6 May.

The eruption of the highest mountain on the island of Java accompanied by volcanic ash with a column of ash was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the southwest and west.

"The eruption of Mount Semeru was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 108 seconds," he said.

Mount Semeru is still on Alert or Level III status, so the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) provides recommendations so that people do not carry out any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan as far as 13 km from the summit (the center of the eruption).

Outside of that distance, he said, people are advised 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.

Then residents are also prohibited from doing activities within a radius of five km from the crater/peak of Mount Semeru because they are prone to the danger of throwing stones (pijar).

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