Three Indonesian Volcanoes Erupt on the Same Day

Three Indonesian volcanoes erupted on the same day, with Mount Ibu, Mount Ili Lewotolok and Mount Semeru all recording activity by the morning of Sept. 7.

Mount Ibu in North Maluku had erupted three times since the previous day. Its latest eruption, at 7:33 a.m. local time, sent a gray ash column about 500 meters above the summit, reaching roughly 1,825 meters above sea level. The ash was thick toward the north. The eruption lasted 44 seconds and registered a maximum seismic amplitude of 28 millimeters, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

Mount Ili Lewotolok in Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara, also erupted twice that morning, at 5:41 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. The later eruption produced a gray ash column about 600 meters above the summit, or roughly 2,023 meters above sea level. The ash was thick toward the southwest. The event lasted 66 seconds and recorded a maximum amplitude of 40 millimeters. The earlier eruption produced an ash column of about the same height.

Mount Semeru in East Java erupted at 4:50 a.m. The event registered a maximum seismic amplitude of 17 millimeters and lasted 112 seconds, but no visible eruption was observed.