Mount Semeru Erupts as Ash Column Rises 1,000 Metres Above Summit

Mount Semeru erupted in East Java on Sunday morning, sending a column about 1,000 metres above the Mahameru summit, or 4,676 metres above sea level. The eruption occurred at 7:51 a.m. local time, according to Sigit Rian Alfian, an officer at the Semeru Observation Post.

The volcano remains at Level III, or Alert. The ash column appeared white to grey and thick, moving eastward. Seismographic equipment recorded a maximum amplitude of 23 millimetres and an eruption duration of 102 seconds.

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Mount Semeru erupted at 7:51 a.m. local time, with the eruption column observed at around 1,000 metres above the summit, or 4,676 metres above sea level.

Authorities advised residents not to conduct outdoor activities, especially in the southeastern sector along Besuk Kobokan, up to 13 kilometres from the eruption centre at the summit. Beyond that area, people are also barred from activities within 500 metres of the riverbanks along Besuk Kobokan, where hot clouds and lahars could spread as far as 17 kilometres from the summit.

People must also stay outside a five-kilometre radius of the crater and summit because of the risk of incandescent rock. Officials urged residents to watch for hot clouds, lava avalanches and lahars along rivers and valleys that begin at Mount Semeru, particularly Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar and Besuk Sat, as well as smaller tributaries of Besuk Kobokan.

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Outside that distance, people must also not carry out activities within 500 metres of the riverbank along Besuk Kobokan because hot clouds and lava flows could spread up to 17 kilometres from the summit.