BPPTKG: Two Lava Domes Of Mount Merapi Get Higher

PHOTO/BETWEEN

YOGYAKARTA - The Center for Research and Development of Geological Disaster Technology (BPPTKG) said two lava domes of Mount Merapi both experienced an increase in height based on observations for a week.

"The height of the southwest dome has increased by about five meters and the middle dome has increased by about one meter," said Head of BPPTKG Hanik Humaida in a written statement quoted by Antara, Friday, September 10.

The morphological changes of Merapi in the form of increasing the height of the lava dome are known based on the results of morphological analysis from the Deles 5, Tunggularum, Ngepos, and Babadan 2 Camera Stations in the period 3-9 September 2021.

In addition to increasing height, according to Hanik, the volume of two Merapi lava domes also increased.

The volume of the southwest lava dome which last week was still at 1,440,000 cubic meters, this week increased to 1,550,000 cubic meters, while the volume of the middle dome which was previously 2,842,000 cubic meters became 2,854,000 cubic meters.

Mount Merapi has two new lava domes that are both growing. The first lava dome is located on the southwest side of Merapi, precisely above the lava left from the 1997 eruption. The second lava dome was monitored by BPPTKG on February 4, 2021, in the middle of the crater of the summit of Mount Merapi.

During the week's observations, said Hanik, Merapi once launched hot clouds of avalanches to the southwest with a maximum sliding distance of 2,000 meters, while lava avalanches were observed 129 times to the southwest with a maximum sliding distance of 2,000 meters.

In a week, Mount Merapi has experienced one hot cloud earthquake (AP), two shallow volcanic earthquakes (VTB), 286 low frequency earthquakes (LF), 20 multiple phase earthquakes (MP), 1,491 avalanches earthquakes (RF). ), 561 gusts (DG), and four tectonic earthquakes (TT).

"LF seismicity this week is higher than last week," he said.

BPPTKG currently maintains the status of Mount Merapi's volcanic activity at Level III or Alert.

Residents are asked to be aware of the potential impact of lava avalanches and hot clouds of Mount Merapi in the south-southwest sector which includes the Yellow, Boyong, Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng, and Putih rivers.

"If an eruption occurs, the ejection of volcanic material from Mount Merapi can reach an area within a radius of three kilometers from the top of the mountain," said Hanik Humaida.