TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Mount Ibu in West Halmahera, North Maluku erupted again at 08:43 Eastern Indonesian Time (WIT) or 06:43 Western Indonesian Time (WIB), Thursday morning, April 28. The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation reported that rising volcanic activity has occurred since last Tuesday.

In today's eruption, the ash column was spewed about 2,500 meters above the peak, or about 3,825 meters above sea level. It was observed to be white and gray with a moderate to the thick intensity and leaned towards the northwest area.

“The eruption was recorded on a seismograph at a maximum amplitude of 28 mm within 80 seconds,” as quoted from the PVMBG’s statement via its Twitter account today.

PVMBG thus underlined that people or tourists are barred from approaching the crater within the radius of 2 kilometers and stay away from the sectoral expansion of 3.5 kilometers towards the crater opening in the north area.

The public is also suggested to wear nose and mount coverings, as well as eye protection or goggles if ash rain falls.

The latest eruption threw the highest ash. On Tuesday, the volcano on Halmahera Island emitted ash columns of about 1,500 meters high twice, at 17:36 WIT and 20:40 WIT. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the first eruption was recorded at 08.49 WIT with a 600-meter-high ash column and the second one occurred at 09:02 WIT spewing a 1,500-meter-high ash column.

Mount Ibu is among 17 volcanoes currently on the alert status of Waspada or Caution. Existing data stated that its eruptive activity throughout 2022 is the second-highest after Mount Anak Krakatau in Sunda Strait.

Read: Volcanologist Talks About the Potential Eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau

ZACHARIAS WURAGIL