MEDAN: Three volcanoes erupted around the country on Friday, spewing ash into the sky and underscoring heightened volcanic activity across the archipelago, following the eruptions of Mount Sinabung and Mount Anak Krakatau earlier this month.
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation’s (PVMG) MAGMA site reported on Friday that the eruptions involved Mount Semeru in East Java, Mount Ili Lewotolok in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Mount Ibu in North Maluku.
The eruptions occurred at different times and lasted from 41 to 187 seconds, detik.com reported.
The 1,325-metre Mt. Ibu is in West Halmahera Regency on the Halmahera Islands. The volcano erupted twice on Friday morning.
The first eruption at 8:56 a.m. Eastern Indonesia Time (WIT), two hours ahead of Jakarta, was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 18 millimetres and a duration of 41 seconds.
The second eruption at 8:58 a.m. WIT had a maximum amplitude of 28 mm and lasted 45 seconds.
Visually, however, the eruptions were not observable.
Earlier, Mt. Ibu erupted at 12:49 a.m., with a maximum amplitude of 28 mm and a duration of 48 seconds. A 400-metre grey ash column was seen above its summit.
The ash column was thick and headed northwest.
In NTT, Mt. Ili Lewotolok also erupted twice.
The first eruption was recorded at 7:09 a.m. Central Indonesia Time (WITA), which is one hour ahead of Jakarta. The seismograph recorded a maximum amplitude of 28 mm and a duration of 48 seconds.
There was also a grey ash column of about 600 m above its 1,449-metre summit.
The second eruption was recorded at 8:02 a.m. WITA.
Earlier, the 1,429-metre Mt. Ili Lewotolok in Lembata Regency on Lembata Island had three eruptions after midnight, at 12:57 a.m. WITA, with a maximum amplitude of 40 mm in 70 seconds.
The second eruption at 2:08 a.m. WITA had a maximum amplitude of 40 mm in 63 seconds. A grey ash column of some 500 m was visible above its summit.
The third eruption at 2:21 a.m. WITA had a maximum amplitude of 40 mm in 94 seconds. A thick grey and black ash column was seen heading west.
On Java Island, Mt. Semeru on the borders of Malang and Lumajang regencies also erupted in the early hours of Friday at 12:26 a.m., 4:27 a.m., 5:05 a.m. and 6:16 a.m.
The first three eruptions were not observable visually. The fourth eruption reached a maximum amplitude of 23 mm at 187 seconds.
Mt. Sinabung in Karo Regency, North Sumatra, erupted on Aug. 31 after a five-year hiatus, while Mount Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait erupted more recently on Sept. 4, following an eruption on July 2.
Meanwhile, authorities in Karo regency have returned 650 evacuees to their homes in batches after Mt. Sinabung showed reduced activity recently.
In the first batch, 418 evacuees from Jambur Arih Ersada and Losd evacuation posts in Sukatepu village returned to Kuta Tengah village in Karo regency on Monday.
Military and police personnel assisted the evacuees, consisting of 210 males and 208 females.
Karo Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) executive director Juspri M. Nadeak said the evacuees were returned to their homes following a meeting of the Karo regency disaster response task force.
The meeting was chaired by Military District (Kodim) 0205/Tanah Karo commander Lt. Col. Robert Panjaitan, who is also task force chairman.
Robert was accompanied by task force vice chairman who is also Karo Police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Pebriandi Haloho, Karo regency secretary Gelora Kurnia Putra Ginting and Juspri.
Juspri said on Monday that the meeting decided evacuees from Kuta Tengah village could return home because the village is no longer included in a red zone.
“The PVMBG narrowed down the recommended danger zone from a radius of five to six kilometres in the south and southeast direction,” he said.
One evacuee, Nande boru Ginting, said she was happy to return home after evacuating for about one week to Jambur Aris Ersada.
She said that she always followed the government’s direction when there is an eruption.
“When Mt. Sinabung erupted, we were told to evacuate; we duly evacuated,” she told The Jakarta Post on Monday. “Now that we are allowed to go home, we are very happy.”
Nande said that during the evacuation, together with her husband and four children, she always tended her vegetable fields, located near her house in Kuta Tengah village.
“During the eruption, vegetables in my field were covered with volcanic ash and had to be immediately cleaned,” she said. “Otherwise, my cabbages, tomatoes and chillies would die.”
Mt. Sinabung monitoring post head Armen Putra said the volcano’s activity had declined with fewer eruptions and seismic activity, and the danger zone was reduced from 6 km to 5 km.
“The red zone, however, remains at 3 km,” he told the Post on Monday. “We have recommended allowing evacuees to return home because Sinabung’s activities have reduced.”
Armen said seismic activities had also reduced, with no observable eruption because the summit was covered by haze.
“The returning refugees, however, must remain vigilant because the volcano alert status remains at Level III siaga [alert],” he said. “Mt. Sinabung still has the potential to erupt again.” - Jakarta Post/ANN
