Mount Merapi Ejects Lava Avalanche Flowing 1,000 meters Downslope

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Mount Merapi, standing on the border between Yogyakarta and Central Java, emitted four incandescent lava avalanches, Wednesday, with maximum sliding distance of one thousand meters, the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) reported.

BPPTKG Head Hanik Humaida noted in a statement here on Wednesday that CCTV monitoring conducted from 00:00 to 6:00 (Indonesian Western Standard Time) showed four lava avalanches travelling upstream of Gendol River.

Apart from the lava avalanches, during that observation period, the BPPTKG also recorded 21 earthquakes of amplitude 3-62 mm lasting between 20 and 105 seconds and one earthquake of 3-mm amplitude for a duration of 23 seconds.

According to visual observations, the low-pressure crater smoke was white and of thin, medium, to thick- and high-intensity being spewed 100 meters from the crater. The weak- to moderate-intensity winds blew over the volcano in the southeast, south, and southwest directions. Air temperature was observed at 16-21 degrees Celsius; air humidity, 67-99 percent; and air pressure, 567.7-708 mmHg.

The BPPTKG has, until now, kept the status of Mount Merapi at Level II, or Alert, and in the interim advises against any climbing activity and only in the case of disaster mitigation-related investigation and research.

The BPPTKG has called on residents to avoid conducting activities within a three-kilometer radius of Mount Merapi's peak.

The BPPTKG has appealed to those living in the Gendol River channel to step up vigil over the extent to which the hot clouds from Merapi dissipate.

Furthermore, the community has been advised to not be incited by issues related to the eruption of Mount Merapi, whose sources remain unclear and continue to follow the local government officials' instructions or directly seek clarification from the Observation Post of Mount Merapi or the BPPTKG office, or through BPPTKG social media platform.

ANTARA