5 Eruptions in 3 Days; Indonesia's Mt. Semeru on Alert Status after Spewing 400-m Tall Volcanic Ash

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Mount Semeru, a volcano that lies on the border of Lumajang and Malang regencies in Indonesia's East Java province, erupted again this morning at 06:33. The volcano spews volcanic ash as high as 400 meters.

"The height of the eruption column was observed to be around 400 meters above the peak (around 4,076 meters above sea level)," Liswanto, the officer at the Semeru Observation Post, said in a written statement on Friday, February 23.

Liswanto said that the volcanic ash column was observed to be white to gray in color with moderate intensity towards the south.

Fifth Eruption in 3 Days

This morning's eruption is Mount Semeru's fifth in three days. On Thursday, February 22, SemeEru erupted at 16:57. The day before, the volcano erupted three times at 07:11, 22:19, and 23:55.

Data from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation shows that from January 1 to 07:00 on February 23, Mount Semeru has erupted 63 times.

Alert Status

Right now, the volcano that stands 3,676 meters above sea level is still on alert status or level III. People are forbidden from going near the mountain's southeast sector, which lies along Besuk Kobokan, around 13 km from the center of the eruption.

Beyond that distance, people are also told not to be within 500 meters of the river banks alongside Besuk Kobokan, as the area could be affected by hot clouds and lava flows up to a distance of 17 km from the peak.

ANTARA 

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