Mount Semeru Erupts Three Times, Spews Ash Up To 1,000 Metres On May 19

By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil

JAKARTA, May 19 (Bernama) -- Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on Indonesia’s Java island, erupted three times on Tuesday morning, sending volcanic ash columns up to 1,000 metres above its summit.

Semeru Observation Post officer Mukdas Sofian said the volcano erupted at 7.06 am and 7.54 am local time, with both eruptions producing ash columns about 1,000 metres above the summit, or approximately 4,676 metres above sea level.

“The ash columns were observed to be white to grey in colour with thick intensity drifting towards the southeast and south,” he said in a statement issued on the Indonesian Centre for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation’s website.

Mukdas said the eruptions were recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 millimetres and durations of 140 seconds and 145 seconds, respectively.

Earlier, Semeru erupted at 5.45 am local time, sending an ash column about 600 metres above the summit, according to observation post officer Yadi Yuliandi.

“The ash column was observed to be grey in colour with thick intensity drifting towards the southwest,” he said, adding that the eruption lasted 138 seconds.

Mount Semeru, standing at 3,676 metres, is located on the border of Lumajang and Malang regencies in East Java province and is among Indonesia’s most active volcanoes.

-- BERNAMA