Mount Semeru Erupts Again With A Eruption As High As 500 Meters

Mount Semeru erupted on Tuesday (22/10/2024) at 05.37 WIB. BETWEEN/HO-PVMBG

Mount Semeru, which is on the border of Lumajang and Malang Regencies, East Java, erupted again with an eruption column height of about 500 meters above the peak this morning.

"There was an eruption of Mount Semeru on October 22, 2024, at 05.37 WIB. The height of the eruption column was observed to be about 500 meters above the peak or 4,176 meters above sea level (masl)," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Ghufron Alwi in a written statement received in Lumajang, Antara, Tuesday, October 22.

According to him, the column of volcanic ash was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the north. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 112 seconds.

The eruption that occurred at 05.37 WIB was the second recorded eruption of Mount Semeru, because previously at 00.32 WIB the highest mountain on the island of Java was an eruption, but the eruption visual was not observed because it was covered in fog.

"Nevertheless, the eruption of the mountain which has an altitude of 3,676 meters above sea level was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 23 mm and a duration of 130 seconds," he said.

He explained that Mount Semeru is still on Alert status, so the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) provides a number of recommendations, namely that people are prohibited from carrying out any activity in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan as far as eight kilometers from the summit (the center of the eruption).

Beyond that distance, people are not allowed 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 13 kilometers from the summit.

"People are also not allowed to move within a three-kilometer radius of the crater/peak of Mount Semeru, because they are prone to the danger of throwing stones (lights)," he said.

In addition, the public also needs to be aware of the potential for hot clouds, lava avalanches, and rain lava 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 lava in small rivers that are tributaries from Besuk Kobokan.