Mount Semeru erupts on Wednesday, spewing 800 meters ash column

Lumajang, East Java (ANTARA) - Mount Semeru, located on the border of Lumajang and Malang Districts, East Java, spewed another eruption with an ash column reaching 800 meters into the sky on Wednesday morning.

"Mount Semeru erupted on Wednesday, at 7:21 a.m. local time. The eruption column was observed to be approximately 800 meters above the summit, or 4,476 meters above sea level," an officer at the Mount Semeru Observation Post, Sigit Rian Alfian, informed in a report on Wednesday.

Alfian noted that the ash column was observed to be white to gray in color, with a thick intensity leaning toward the southwest and west. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 18 mm and a duration of 75 seconds.

According to officials, the 3,676-meter-high mountain previously erupted three times on Wednesday, at 00:33 a.m. and 1:20 a.m.

However, visual observations of these eruptions were not visible due to fog.

Meanwhile, the third eruption occurred at 5:38 a.m. with an ash column observed approximately 700 meters above the summit, or 4,376 meters above sea level. The ash column was observed to be white to gray in color with moderate intensity toward the southwest.

Alfian informed that Mount Semeru remains at Alert Status (Level II). Therefore, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has issued several recommendations: prohibiting the public from engaging in any activities in the southeastern sector, along Besuk Kobokan, eight kilometers from the summit (the eruption epicenter).

Beyond that distance, the public should not engage in activities within 500 meters of the riverbank along Besuk Kobokan, due to the potential for pyroclastic flows and lava flows up to 13 kilometers from the summit.

"The public is also advised not to engage in activities within a three-kilometer radius of the crater/peak of Mount Semeru, due to the risk of ejected incandescent rocks," he added.

He urged the public to remain vigilant of the potential for pyroclastic flows, lava avalanches, and cold lava flow along rivers and valleys that originate at the summit of Mount Semeru, especially along Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar, and Besuk Sat, as well as the potential for cold lava flow in small rivers that are tributaries of Besuk Kobokan.