Mount Semeru Erupts 4 Times, People With A Radius Of 3 Km Are Asked To Stay Away

Eruption of Mount Semeru, East Java, (ANTARA)

LuMAJANG - Mount Semeru erupted four times on Thursday, November 28 morning with an eruption height of 500 meters to 900 meters above the peak. People should also not move within a three-kilometer radius of the crater/peak of Mount Semeru because they are prone to the danger of the ejection of incandescent stones

Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Ghufron Alwi said the mountain, which has a height of 3,676 meters above sea level (masl), erupted first at 00.23 WIB.

"Visual eruptions were not observed, but the eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 108 seconds," he said in a written statement received in Lumajang.

Ghufron said that the highest mountain on the island of Java erupted again at 00.43 WIB with an eruptive column height of about 900 meters above the peak or 4,576 meters above sea level. The ash column was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the west and northwest.

"The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 120 seconds," he said.

The third eruption of Mount Semeru, according to Ghufron, occurred at 02.13 WIB with an eruptive column height that was observed about 500 meters above the peak. The ash column was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the northwest.

Eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 21 mm and a duration of 104 seconds. "The Mount Semeru erupted again at 03.54 WIB with an eruption column height of about 800 meters above the peak or height of 4,476 meters above sea level," he explained.

Ghufron explained that the ash column was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the northwest. This eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 113 seconds.

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

Furthermore, outside this 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.

"The community must also not move within a radius of three kilometers from the crater/peak of Mount Semeru because it is prone to the dangers of incandescent stones," he added.

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.