Stay Alert! BPPTKG Calls Mount Merapi Launches Lava Falls Up To 43 Times In A Week

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Mount Merapi has released lava avalanches 43 times over the past week. Even so, there is no apparent change in height and morphology, both the southwest dome and the central dome on the mountain, which is located on the border of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

"Based on morphological analysis from the Deles5, Tunggularum, Ngepos, and Babadan camera stations, 43 lava avalanches were observed to the southwest, dominant to the Bebeng River, with a maximum sliding distance of 2,000 meters," said the Head of the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG). ) Agus Budi Santoso through a written statement received in Yogyakarta, Sunday.

Agus added that based on photo analysis, the volume of the southwest lava dome was 1,645,000 cubic meters and the central dome was 2,582,000 cubic meters. In addition, the intensity of the Merapi earthquake over the past week, according to him, is still quite high.

The deformation of Mount Merapi which is monitored using EDM also still shows the rate of distance shortening of 0.2 cm per day.

This week it rained at the Mount Merapi Observation Post with an intensity of 36 mm per hour for 10 minutes at the Kaliurang Post on July 13, 2022. "There are no reports of cold lava flooding or additional flow in rivers that head to Mount Merapi," said Agus.

Until now BPPTKG still maintains the status of Mount Merapi at Level III or Alert. Lava flows and hot clouds from Mount Merapi can impact areas in the south-southwest sector which include the Boyong River (a maximum of five km) and the Bedog, Krasak, Bebeng Rivers (a maximum of seven km).

In addition, lava flows and hot clouds from Mount Merapi can impact areas in the southeastern sector which include the Woro River (a maximum of three km) and the Gendol River (a distance of five km).

"If the volcano experiences an explosive eruption, the ejection of volcanic material can reach areas within a three-kilometer radius from the top of the mountain," said Agus Budi Santoso.