Lava Falls Sliding 43 Times From Mount Merapi Over The Week

Illustration - Mount Merapi's incandescent lava is seen from Srumbung, Magelang, Central Java, Sunday (24/4/2022). BETWEEN PHOTOS/Hendra Nurdiyansyah/YU/pri

YOGYAKARTA - The Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) said Mount Merapi on the border of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta emitted 43 lava flows during observations from August 5 to August 11.

"This week 43 lava avalanches were observed to the southwest, dominant to the Bebeng River, with a maximum sliding distance of 1,500 meters," said Head of BPPTKG Agus Budi Santoso as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, August 13.

Agus said that based on a morphological analysis of aerial photos with drones on August 8, 2022 at the Tunggularum, Deles5 and Ngepos camera stations, it was observed that there was growth in the lava dome in the southwest part of Merapi.

"In the southwest dome, the growth of the dome is observed. The volume of the dome is calculated at 1,664,000 cubic meters, while for the middle dome it is 2,772,000 cubic meters," he said.

According to him, the intensity of the Merapi earthquake during the past week is still quite high.

Meanwhile, the deformation of Mount Merapi which was monitored using EDM and GPS this week did not show any significant changes.

"This week there was no reported rain at the Mount Merapi Observation Post. There were no reports of lahars or additional flow in the rivers that originate at Mount Merapi," said Agus Budi.

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).