Mount Semeru Erupted Three Times on Friday Morning

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - Mount Semeru was recorded having erupted three times with the explosion reaching 400 meters above the summit on Friday (3/28) morning.

“The first eruption occurred at 02.31 WIB with the height of the explosion column observed around 400 meters above the peak or 4,076 MASL,” said Mount Semeru Observation Post Officer, Sigit Rian Alfian, in a written report, reported Antara.

During the eruption, Semeru's ash column was observed to be white to gray with a thick intensity towards the northeast. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 159 seconds.

Then, the mountain which has an altitude of 3,676 meters above sea level erupted again at 04:32 WIB, but the visual eruption was not observed. The eruption was recorded on the seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 138 seconds.

“At 05.48 WIB Mount Semeru erupted again with the height of the ash column observed about 400 meters above the peak or at an altitude of 4,076 meters above sea level,” he said.

The ash column was observed to be white to gray in color with thick intensity towards the northeast. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of 123 seconds.

Until now, Mount Semeru is still on Alert status so there are a number of recommendations given by the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) to the public.

The locals are prohibited from any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan as far as eight kilometers from the peak (eruption center).

Beyond this distance, people should not carry out activities within 500 meters of the riverbank (river border) along Besuk Kobokan, because it has the potential to be hit by the expansion of hot clouds and lava flows up to a distance of 13 kilometers from the peak.

“The public should also not carry out activities within a three-kilometer radius of the crater/peak of Mount Semeru, because it is prone to the danger of incandescent rock ejection,” he said.

In addition, people also need to be aware of the potential for hot clouds, lava flows, and rain lava along the rivers/valleys that head up at the summit 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 of Besuk Kobokan.

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