JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Mount Semeru, located on the border of Lumajang and Malang regencies in East Java, erupted twice on Tuesday (April 14) morning, sending pyroclastic flows up to three kilometres from its summit.
According to Mount Semeru Observation Post officer Sigit Rian Alfian, the first eruption occurred at 5.22 am local time, producing an ash column reaching about 1,500 metres above the summit, or 5,176 metres above sea level.
He said the ash column was grey and thick, drifting westward, while seismic recordings showed a maximum amplitude of 20 mm over three minutes and 23 seconds.
"The eruption was accompanied by pyroclastic flows travelling three kilometres southeast,” he said, according to ANTARA News Agency, on Tuesday.
Sigit said the highest peak on Java Island erupted again at 6.03 am with an ash column rising about 1,000 metres above the summit, drifting towards the southwest.
He said the volcano remains at Alert Level III, with residents prohibited from carrying out any activities in the southeast sector along Besuk Kobokan within a 13-kilometre radius from the eruption centre.
He added that communities outside the exclusion zone are advised to avoid areas within 500 metres of riverbanks along Besuk Kobokan due to the risk of expanded pyroclastic flows and lahar reaching up to 17km from the summit. - Bernama
