Mount Semeru Erupts On New Year's Eve

Mount Semeru erupted on Tuesday (31/12/2024) at 04.34 WIB with an eruptive column height of about 800 meters above the peak. (ANTARA/HO-PVMBG)

LUMAJANG - Mount Semeru, which has a height of 3,676 meters above sea level (masl), erupted with visual eruptions not being observed because it was covered in fog on Tuesday night.

"There was an eruption of Mount Semeru on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, at 20.24 WIB. The visual of the eruption was not observed. When the report was made, the eruption was still ongoing," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Liswanto as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 31.

Based on officers' records, Mount Semeru has erupted 12 times with the first eruption occurring at 00.58 WIB, followed by the next eruption at 03.02 WIB and 04.34 WIB. The three eruptions were visually observed with a clear height of 800 meters to 900 meters above the peak.

Meanwhile, nine other eruptions were not visually observed, but the eruption was recorded in a seismograph with an amplitude of about 20 mm and the duration of time during the eruption was also recorded properly.

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).

Then outside of 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 radius of three kilometers from the crater/peak of Mount Semeru, because they are prone to the dangers of throwing incandescent stones," he said.

In addition, the public 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.