Mount Semeru Erupts, People Asked to Beware of Volcano-Pyroclastic Flow

PVMBG recorded the eruption activity that occurred on Mount Semeru, East Java Province, Friday (22/9/2023). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) reported that there had been an eruption of ash as high as approximately 700 meters on Mount Semeru, East Java Province.

Mount Semeru Monitoring Post officer, Yadi Yuliandi, in a statement received in Jakarta, said the eruption occurred today at 09.23 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB).

"The ash column was observed to be gray with thick intensity towards the southeast and south," said Yadi.

The eruption was recorded via seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 millimeters and a duration of 101 seconds.

PVMBG recommends that people do not carry out any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan, as far as 13 kilometers from the peak (center of the eruption).

Beyond this distance, people do not carry out activities within 500 meters of the river bank (river border) along Besuk Kobokan, because they have the potential to be affected by the expansion of hot clouds and lava flows up to a distance of 17 kilometers from the peak.

Apart from that, PVMBG also recommends that people do not carry out activities within a radius of 5 kilometers from the peak of Mount Semeru, because it is prone to the danger of throwing stones (flare).

The public is also asked to be aware of the potential for hot cloud avalanches, lava avalanches, and lavas along rivers/valleys that originate at the peak of Mount Semeru, especially along Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar and Besuk Sat as well as the potential for lahars in small rivers that is a tributary of Besuk Kobokan.

Mount Semeru is still on Alert or Level III status. PVMBG recorded the number of eruptions that occurred at the volcano 33 times from January 1 to September 22, 2023