Semeru Erupts Several Times With Eruption Height Up To 1,200 Meters

Mount Semeru erupted with an eruption height of 1.2 kilometers on Thursday (2/1/2025) morning. (ANTARA/HO-PVMBG)

Mount Semeru, which is located on the border of Lumajang and Malang regencies, East Java, erupted several times with an eruption height of 500 to 1,200 meters above the peak this morning.

The first eruption occurred at 00.57 WIB and the eruption visual was not observed, but the eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 128 seconds.

Then the second eruption occurred at 02.41 WIB and the eruption visual was not observed, but the eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 157 seconds.

Mount Semeru erupted again at 05.05 WIB with an eruptive column height of about 500 meters above the peak and a column of ash was observed to be white to gray with thick intensity to the southwest. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 120 seconds.

"At 07.57 WIB, Mount Semeru erupted again with an eruption column height of about 500 meters above the peak and the ash column was observed to be white to gray with moderate to southwest intensity," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Liswanto in a written report received in Lumajang quoted from Antara, Thursday, January 2.

After almost an hour, the highest mountain on the island of Java erupted again at 08.51 WIB with a column height of ash observed about 1,200 meters above the peak or 4,876 meters above sea level (masl).

"The ash column was observed to be white to gray with moderate intensity to the north. When the report was made, the eruption was still ongoing," he said.

Mount Semeru erupted again at 10.02 WIB with visually unobserved eruptions and when the report was made, the eruption was still ongoing.

Liswanto said 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 radius of 3 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.