Mount Ibu Eruption: Indonesian Authorities Release Aviation Warning
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27 May 2024 11:03 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Geological Agency recorded the eruption of Mount Ibu in North Maluku early Monday morning, the 27th of May, 2024, at 03:03 a.m. local time, producing an ash column as high as 6,000 meters above the peak.
"After six days of no eruption, Mount Ibu erupted again with a height of 6,000 meters," said the Head of the Geological Agency at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Muhammad Wafid in his statement on Monday.
The Geological Agency noted that the ash column was thick and gray in color, leaning towards the west. The eruption made a booming sound that reached the Mount Ibu Observation Post in Gam Ici Village, Ibu District, West Halmahera Regency, North Maluku. "It was raining sand as far as the Mount Ibu Observation Post in Gam Ici Village," said Wafid.
The Geological Agency issued a code Red VONA (Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation) to warn local aviation authorities of the ash column from Mount Ibu.
Since May 16, the Geological Agency has raised the volcanic activity status of Mount Ibu to Level IV. Residents are asked to avoid the mountain within 4 4-kilometer radius and a sectoral expansion of 7 kilometers towards the northern part of Mount Ibu’s crater opening.
Mount Ibu last erupted in the afternoon of May 21, producing an ash column as high as 5,000 meters or the equivalent of 6,325 meters above sea level. The Geological Agency noted that between May 1 and 22, there have been 11 eruptions of Mount Ibu with the eruption column varying from 1,000 to 5,000 meters above the crater. Several of the eruptions made rumbling and booming sounds and produced ejections of incandescent lava reaching a radius of 1.5 kilometers from the rim of Mount Ibu's crater.
The Geological Agency also asks people to mask up and wear goggles if the ashes from the eruption start to fall.
AHMAD FIKRI
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