Since Saturday Morning, Semeru Erupted Several Times With An Eruption Height Of Up To 700 Meters

On Saturday morning, Mount Semeru, which is on the border of Lumajang and Malang Regencies, East Java, erupted several times with an eruption height of up to 700 meters above the peak. The first eruption occurred at 00.40 WIB with an eruptive column height observed about 700 meters above the peak or 4,376 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," said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer Liswanto in a written report received in Lumajang, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, December 28. The second eruption occurred at 03.06 WIB with an eruptive column height observed about 400 meters above the peak or 4.076 mdpl. "The ash column was observed to be white to gray with moderate intensity to the north. When this report was made, the eruption was still ongoing," he said. Mount Semeru erupted again at 05.21 WIB with an eruptive column height observed about 700 meters above the peak or 4.376 mdpl. "The ash column was observed white to gray with moderate intensity to the north. As this report was made, the eruption was still ongoing," 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).

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.