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Mount Semeru volcano alert status raised to highest level
East Java’s Mount Semeru erupted on Sunday, spewing hot ash clouds around 1.6 kilometers into the sky, prompting authorities to raise the volcano’s alert status to the highest level.
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ast Java’s Mount Semeru erupted on Sunday, spewing hot ash clouds around 1.6 kilometers into the sky, prompting authorities to raise the volcano’s alert status to the highest level.
The eruption of the highest mountain on the island of Java, located around 800 km southeast of capital Jakarta, sparked the evacuation of nearby villages.
The increased alert level “means the danger has threatened people’s settlements and the volcano’s activity has escalated,” spokesperson Hendra Gunawan from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM) told broadcaster Kompas TV.
“Japan’s weather agency warned that a tsunami could arrive at the islands of Miyako and Yaeyama in the southern prefecture of Okinawa,” reported Kyodo news agency.
It said the tsunami could arrive by 2:30 p.m. local time (0530 GMT), but there were no reports of any damage an hour after that time had passed.
“Hot avalanches” were caused by piles of lava sliding down from the top of the volcano after the eruption, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
No fatalities or injuries were reported immediately after the eruption, but Gunawan warned nearby residents not to travel within 8 km of the crater after the alert level was raised to four.
Shelters were being prepared for evacuating residents, the official added. They had been told to avoid a southeastern area 13 km along a river in the direction where the ash was traveling.
“A lot of people have started to [head] down,” Thoriqul Haq, the regent of Lumajang, where the volcano is located, told Kompas TV.
Video footage circulating on social media showed plumes of hot smoke rising from Mt. Semeru, at least one village covered in ash and a dark haze in the air.
One year after last eruption
Internet access was down and cellular signals were patchy after the eruption, according to an AFP journalist.
The local search and rescue agency distributed free masks to the public because of the threat polluted air posed to vulnerable residents.
Mt. Semeru last erupted exactly one year ago, killing at least 51 people. The disaster left entire streets filled with mud and ash, swallowing homes and vehicles, and nearly 10,000 people seeking refuge.
The active volcano’s alert status had remained at the second-highest level since its previous major eruption in December 2020, which also prompted thousands to flee and left villages covered in volcanic material.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. The archipelagic nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes.
In December 2018, Anak Krakatoa (Child of Krakatoa) erupted in the strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, causing an underwater landslide and tsunami that killed more than 400 people and injured more than 14,000.
