JAKARTA (Bernama): Mount Semeru in East Java erupted nine times on Sunday, with the latest eruption sending an ash column up to 800 metres above its summit and triggering pyroclastic flows that travelled 3.5 kilometres down its southeastern slopes.
Mount Semeru Observation Post officer Mukdas Sofian said the volcano, the highest on Java Island, has been erupting since 12.21 am, with the ninth eruption recorded at 8.49am.
"The ash column at 8.49 am was observed to be white to grey with thick intensity drifting toward the southwest, while seismic recordings showed a maximum amplitude of 22 mm and a duration of about four minutes and six seconds,” he said, according to ANTARA News Agency, on Sunday.
Mukdas said the strongest eruption occurred at 1.01 am, producing an ash column reaching approximately 1,000 metres above the summit, with moderate intensity drifting southwest.
Authorities said Mount Semeru remains at Level III (Alert) status.
Residents are advised not to carry out any activities within 13 km in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan.
They are also prohibited from being within 500 metres of riverbanks along the same area due to the risk of pyroclastic flow expansion and lahar flows reaching up to 17 km from the summit.
In addition, the public is barred from activities within a five km radius of the crater due to the danger of incandescent rock ejections.
-- BERNAMA
